15th Annual Coho Confab

August 17-19, 2012
Trinity River, California

The 15th Annual Coho Confab will be held at Indian Creek Lodge on the mainstem of the Trinity River. Salmonid Restoration Federation and Trees Foundation are the permanent co-hosts of this educational event. The Confab is also sponsored by the California Department of Fish & Game and the Five Counties Salmonid Program. 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.

Agenda

Lowden Creek and Indian Creek on the mainstem of the Trinity River

The Coho Confab will open with a Friday evening community dinner. The evening will feature orientation talks including a presentation by Mark Lancaster, Five Counties Salmonid Program, on Weaver Creek as a microcosm of the challenges facing coho in California, followed by a discussion with Arnold Whitridge, Trinity River Advocate, on whether the $16 million per year Trinity River Restoration Program will be effective in restoring salmon populations. Research Geneticist, Carlos Garza, will present about coho salmon population structure in the Klamath Basin.

On Saturday there will be several concurrent field tours including an all-day tour of migration barriers, large wood management and up-slope restoration projects on several Trinity River tributaries. Other Saturday morning tours include a look at instream macro-invertebrates and how they can help restoration projects, and a tour of road upgrades and stream crossings with a discussion of sediment reduction techniques. Saturday afternoon tours include the ever- popular underwater fish identification workshop and a look at Sidney Gulch, a coho-bearing urban stream.

When participants return from tours they can refresh in the river or swimming pool and then join an Open Forum discussion on The “Landscape of Coho Recovery” that will include presentations from Julie Weeder, NOAA Fisheries Recovery Coordinator, Darren Miereu of Cal Trout, and a representative of the NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center.

This long summer day will culminate with a BBQ feast and a serenade by river troubadour, Alice di Micele. Sunday concludes with a half-day of concurrent tours and workshops including a river restoration tour from Lewiston Dam to Indian Creek, a second offering of macro-invertebrates sampling, and a tour and discussion of mainstem channel rehabilitation design on the Trinity River.

With some fishing luck, the Yurok tribe will hopefully be preparing Klamath salmon traditionally for this year’s Coho Confab.

Logistics: Come prepared. If you are planning on attending the macro-invertebrate sampling workshop, you may want to bring waders. The underwater fish identification workshop will require a snorkel and mask.

This is a destination Confab. The entire Indian Creek Lodge has been reserved for our exclusive event. This is an ideal place to bring your family and enjoy the Confab with the comfort of full accommodations. There a variety of rooms including single rooms with king-size beds, double rooms, suites and deluxe suites. Please make your reservation directly by Indian Creek Lodge at (623-6294, http:iclodge.net reserve your room soon. Limited camping is also available.