Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) is coordinating the 18th Annual Coho Confab that will take place August 21-23 at the beautiful Westminster Woods Camp in the Dutch Bill Creek watershed of Western Sonoma. The Coho Confab is a field symposium to learn about watershed restoration and techniques to restore and recover coho salmon populations. The Confab provides an ideal opportunity to network with other fish-centric people and to participate in field tours that highlight innovative salmon restoration practices. This year, SRF is collaborating with several groups to produce this educational event including our sponsor, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and restoration partners including the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (RCD), Trout Unlimited, NOAA Fisheries, and the Sonoma County RCD.
Register online by July 20th to enjoy discounted pricing. Registration includes three days of presentations, field tours, meals, and camping!
The Coho Confab will open Friday evening, August 21 with a community dinner and inspiring keynote presentations from Charlotte Ambrose (California Programs Coordinator of NOAA Fisheries), Brock Dolman (OAEC’s Water Institute Director), and John Green (Program Manager of Gold Ridge RCD and the winner of the 2015 SRF Restorationist of the Year award). Presentations will focus on the social aspects of saving salmon, conservation hydrology, planning and implementation, and restoring landscape hydrology, respectively.
Saturday field tours include a full-day tour of Willow Creek a unique example of a valley wetland stream complex that provides rich salmonid habitat and gives us a glimpse of historically common terrestrial conditions. This field tour will visit fish monitoring sites, present relevant data, and explore the riparian jungle. Half-day tours include a tour of the Dutch Bill watershed, a Green Valley creek off-channel habitat and large wood installations tour, and a Conservation Hydrology tour of the famed Occidental Arts and Ecology Center with permaculture expert Brock Dolman, as well as a Water Rights Clinic with attorney Matt Clifford of Trout Unlimited. When participants return from field tours, Charlotte Ambrose and Bob Coey from the West Coast Region of NOAA Fisheries will lead the Open Forum: A Field Guide to Central California Coast Recovery.
The last day of the Confab will include a Sunday morning field tour of Grape Creek off-channel storage and large woody debris projects, a Bodega Bay Roofwater Harvesting and Streamflow Restoration tour with Lauren Hammack of Prunuske Chatham, and a Warm Springs Hatchery and Dry Creek restoration projects tour led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
SRF’s Executive Director, Dana Stolzman, states, “In light of the current drought, the state of coho salmon, and recent water emergency regulations in the Mark West watershed, it is more important than ever for landowners and restoration practitioners to come together to create community solutions to restore watersheds and work towards salmon recovery.”