Conference Field Tours Highlights

Battle Creek Restoration
Tour Coordinator: Tricia Parker, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Restoration of anadromous fish habitat in the Battle Creek watershed is underway.  This truly collaborative effort includes many participants and will seek to preserve the environmental and economic resources of the Battle Creek watershed through responsible stewardship, liaison, cooperation, and education (per the Battle Creek Conservancy’s mission statement). On this tour we will see the significant efforts that have occurred in the Battle Creek watershed in the decade following the 1999 Memorandum of Understanding.  In addition to learning about the USBR led hydropower restoration effort, we plan to take an in-depth look at the significant efforts that have occurred on the mainstem of Battle Creek to integrate operations at the FWS Coleman National Fish Hatchery (e.g. new fish ladder and improved water intake system) with watershed restoration efforts.  We will also see the juvenile and adult fish monitoring efforts, PG&E’s efforts to assist salmon in a hydropower tailrace and collaborative efforts to improve fish passage at an irrigation diversion. We will learn about riparian restoration efforts, fine sediment monitoring, fire/fuels reduction, and many other collaborative efforts to minimize disturbance / enhance production of the naturally produced salmon and steelhead.  Key participants from agencies, P.G & E., the local watershed group and volunteer Friends Group will participate to share their perspectives.  A reference sheet for presentations/posters that link to this tour will be available. By the end of the day, you should feel that you: 1) have specific knowledge of actions completed or underway, 2) have an understanding of upcoming restoration actions, 3) are aware the goals associated with the overall watershed restoration effort and 4) understand the significant amount of cooperation that has been, and will continue to be, required to achieve these goals. 

Restoring the Shasta River Field Tour
Tour Coordinators: Andy Baker, North Coast Water Quality Control Board and, Adriane Garayalde and David Webb, Shasta Valley RCD

Discover why the Shasta River was historically one of the most productive salmon rearing streams in California. Explore the watershed from its headwaters on the flanks of Mt Shasta (an active volcano) to the confluence with the Klamath River. Learn about geology, coho recovery, TMDL implementation, monitoring, research and how the many stakeholders including ranchers, local entities and government agencies are working together to restore this precious resource.  We will visit Big Springs Ranch an active cattle ranch which was recently acquired by The Nature Conservancy.  The ranch has large spring complexes that originate from melted snow and glaciers atop Mt Shasta and flow though lava tubes that emerge on the ranch.  These spring complexes provide amazing salmonid habitat and are being studied by leading fisheries experts for the first time.  The ranch is also undergoing an extensive stream restoration program that combines ranching, tailwater management, riparian protection and planting.  We will also visit one of several small dam removal projects that are occurring in the watershed.  The field trip will conclude in the Shasta River Canyon (known as Salmon Heaven) with a stop on the Klamath River.  Tour guides include watershed and fisheries experts from the Shasta Valley RCD, CDFG, and UC Davis.

Rebuilding Habitat for Central Valley Salmonids: Clear Creek Restoration Project Tour
Tour Coordinators:  Matt Brown, Sarah Giovannetti, and Jim Earley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Salmonid restoration in Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River near Redding, has included increased stream flows, dam removal, large-scale floodplain and stream channel reconstruction, gravel augmentation, erosion control, and fuels reduction.  Restoration projects on Clear Creek have improved habitat for steelhead, spring, fall, and late-fall Chinook salmon in the northern Central Valley.  Recent increases in the adult populations of steelhead and the three runs of Chinook salmon in Clear Creek suggest that restoration has been successful so far.  Additional work remains to acquire channel maintenance flows, develop a long-term flow prescription, secure a long-term supply of spawning gravel, create additional spawning habitat and manage water temperatures in the face of global warming.  Our collaborative restoration process has involved diverse federal, state, and local agencies, local landowners, and representatives of power and water companies.

Join us as we visit restoration projects and vistas throughout the anadromous portion of the creek.  Tour stops will include floodplain and stream rehabilitation sites, spawning gravel supplementation areas, Whiskeytown Reservoir overlook, and the newly constructed greenway project overlook.  Members of the Clear Creek Restoration Team will talk about our challenges and successes, and our plans for the future.

The Evolution of Restoration Techniques on the Trinity River
Tour Coordinator: Damon H. Goodman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Field Office, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In its pristine state, the Trinity River was a large alluvial system that supported a diverse assemblage of fish and wildlife species including large runs of anadromous salmonids.  Anthropogenic disturbance caused by extensive historical gold mining, the construction of Trinity and Lewiston Dams in 1964 and the diversion water into the Sacramento River has drastically altered the dynamics of this ecosystem.  In 2000, the Secretary of Interior and the Hoopa Valley Tribe signed the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Record of Decision which initiated a process based restoration effort has been developed and is currently being implemented on the Trinity River.  The goals of the restoration effort include returning the Trinity River to a functioning aquatic ecosystem and restoring naturally produced anadromous salmonid populations to pre-dam levels.  Restoration actions include flow management, mechanical bank and floodplain rehabilitation, coarse sediment augmentation, watershed restoration and large wood management.  These actions are implemented under an adaptive management and science-based framework with specific focus on the evaluation of restoration techniques, and monitoring habitat changes and biological response from restoration.  Through the implementation of the Trinity River restoration effort, insights have been gained about restoration implementation and the effectiveness of initial restoration techniques.  This has led to an evolution of restoration implementation.  In this tour, participants will visit several of the bank rehabilitation sites with a particular emphasis on the evolution of restoration techniques and lessons learned on the Trinity River.