11th Annual Coho Confab

September 26-28, 2008 on the Smith River

The Smith River Estuary (Photo: Greg King)

The Coho Confab is a symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn restoration techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and to network with other fish-centric people. To confabulate literally means to informally chat or to fabricate to compensate for gaps in ones memory. Not to imply that restorationists are prone to hyperbole when recounting the size of a rescued fish, the magnitude of the waterfall coming out of the culvert, or the heroics of a particular restoration job. The Confab is an informal gathering of fishheads that allows participants and instructors to learn from each other’s experience. Participants learn skills and practices that can be applied to restore habitat in their home watershed. Each year the Confab is held at a coho salmon refuge on the North Coast.

The 11th Annual Coho Confab will be held on the South Fork of the Smith River in the far northwestern corner of California. Salmonid Restoration Federation and Trees Foundation are the permanent co-hosts of this educational event and this year the Confab is also sponsored by Smith River Alliance, Smith River Advisory Council, and Cal Trout. Orientation presentations will include an opening talk about the significance of the Mill Creek watershed acquisition in protecting and restoring a salmon stronghold by Grant Werschkull of Smith River Alliance. Tom Weseloh of Cal Trout will discuss coho salmon from State CESA listing to local restoration projects. Research Ecologist Frank Lake will present on how upslope fire and forest management affect fish by providing a review of tribal and scientific knowledge about the effects of fires on fisheries.

Confab participants can tour Mill Creek to view fisheries monitoring efforts, channel morphology, riparian conditions, and recent restoration efforts. (Photo: Thomas B. Dunklin)

This year’s Confab will feature restoration tours in the Mill Creek watershed, tributaries of the South Fork, Yontucket Slough, and the Smith River estuary. Randy Lew of Pacific Watershed Associates will lead a tour of road decommissioning and erosion control projects in Dominie and Rowdy Creeks. State Park geologist Rocco Fiori will discuss experimental wood loading designs to enhance stream function and salmonid habitats. A full-day tour of Mill Creek restoration projects will include presentations by Dan Burgess of Rural Human Services who will lead a tour of the native plant nursery for Mill Creek restoration, Lathrope Leonard of Redwood National and State Parks will lead a forestry tour focused on restoring late seral forests, and Brian Merrill of California State Parks will discuss backcountry road management and rehabilitating watershed function in North Coast Redwoods State Parks. Rod McLeod of the Mill Creek Monitoring Program will lead a hands-on workshop assessing juvenile coho summer abundance estimation in Mill Creek.

Additionally, Zack Larson, Watershed Coordinator of the Smith River Advisory Council, will facilitate a Smith River fish identification workshop. Antonio Llanos of Mike Love & Associates will lead a tour of fish passage projects and will co-lead a tour of Yontocket Slough and the Smith River estuary with Zack Larson. Other workshops include instream fish identification, and macro-invertebrate sampling and stream health assessment. There will be an open forum entitled “Stories and Songs of Salmon” with native stories from Frank Lake and river troubadour Alice di Micele. Saturday night will culminate with a BBQ and a performance by musician Alice di Micele.