12th Annual Coho Confab in Mendocino

The 12th Annual Coho Confab will feature underwater fish identification and exploration of the Big River estuary. (Photo: courtesy Mendocino Land Trust archives)

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. The 12th Annual Coho Confab will be held on the beautiful Mendocino Coast. Salmonid Restoration Federation and Trees Foundation are the permanent co-hosts of this educational event and this year the Confab is also sponsored by the California Department of Fish & Game, Mendocino Land Trust and Trout Unlimited. The Confab allows for 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.

Restoration pioneer Richard Gienger coined the term “Confab” from the verb “confabulate” which 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. Gienger will confabulate about efforts to protect coho salmon and redwood forest conservation. Other orientation presentations include an opening talk about coho salmon restoration and conservation efforts on the Garcia River by Garcia River coordinator Craig Bell and coastal turbidity monitoring by Teri Jo Barber of Ridge to River.

This year’s Confab will feature an all-day restoration tour of the Garcia River watershed that will include multiple bioengineering sites on the lower river dating back to 1995, and comprehensive sub-basin wide erosion control projects in at least one upper Garcia tributary. There will also be discussion of the public/private purchase of one third of the Garcia Watershed and its positive implications for coho recovery in the Garcia River as well as other watersheds in California. A tour of Caspar Creek will highlight the DFG monitoring of fish populations in Caspar Creek, USDA Forest Service Caspar watershed research, Caspar Creek fish ladders presented by foresters from Jackson State Demonstration Forest, and road decommissioning efforts.

Singer-songwriter Dana Lyons will perform at the Confab. (Photo: Paola Bouley)

Lisa Bolton of Trout Unlimited and Forestry Consultant Christopher Blencowe will lead a tour of Ten Mile River to visit the South Fork Ten Mile River Accelerated Wood Recruitment Project to demonstrate an experimental approach to large woody debris loading. Participants will also have a chance to tour fish passage projects in coastal watersheds as well as post-fire erosion control projects. On Sunday, Richard Gienger will lead a tour of coho bearing streams in the Sinkyone Forest and tour the recent forest acquisitions.

Hands-on workshops include macro-invertebrate sampling, underwater fish identification, and native plant propagation. Matt Coleman from the Mendocino Land Trust and Maureen Roche from the Mattole will co-host an underwater fish identification workshop on the Little North Fork of the Big River as well as on the main stem and estuary so participants will have an opportunity to snorkel in different micro-habitats. Participants should come prepared with a wetsuit, snorkel, and mask.

Open forums will include Stories and Songs of Salmon with songwriter Dana Lyons and a native plant propagation workshop at Jughandle Farm. Saturday night will culminate with a BBQ, and concert with river troubadour and singer Dana Lyons.

Each year the Confab is held in another location on the North Coast. Next year we plan to be in the Russian River watershed.