9th Annual Coho Confab

Salmonid Restoration Federation, Trees Foundation and Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN) hosted the 9th annual Coho Confab August 25-27, 2006 at the Clem Miller Education Facility at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County. The Confab is a symposium to explore watershed restoration and learn techniques to enhance recovery of salmon and steelhead. This dynamic educational event was sponsored by the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program of the Department of Fish and Game, Marin Community Foundation, and NOAA’s Restoration Center provided in-kind support.

The Confab brings together community members, landowners, activists, scientists, and restoration ecologists for a weekend of innovative skills-building workshops, hands-on tours of restoration projects, community networking, and fun.

This year kicked off with an orientation with Paola Bouley of SPAWN who gave an inspiring talk about Coho salmon empowerment and local grassroots action and Liza Prunuske of Prunuske Chatham Inc. who presented a 20-year retrospective on Marin County salmon restoration efforts. Field tours included tours of Giacomini Wetlands and Point Reyes restoration projects where participants learned about and assisted with invasive plant removal and a tour of sustainable farm management practices that addressed water quality and habitat conservation. SPAWN led a tour of San Geronimo Creek restoration projects including the Geronimo Valley Rain Catchment Design Project and bioengineering projects.

Workshops included underwater fish identification of coho salmon and steelhead, macro-invertebrate sampling as a means of determining the health of the creek, native plant propagation workshop, and bird response to riparian restoration. NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center also led a fullday workshop on fish passage barrier removal which addressed project design and planning, discussion of fish passage database resources including FishXing and CalFish, and a tour of fish passage barrier removal projects at Lagunitas Creek. Concurrent sessions included recovering California’s central coast salmon and steelhead under the federal ESA, Miwok cultural perspectives on restoring the land and salmon, and estuary restoration.

The Confab culminated with a wild salmon feast prepared by Tomales Bay Association and a campfire with ecotroubadours Dana Lyons and Bill Oliver. This Confab was attended by nearly 100 participants from watershed groups throughout California as well as restorationists and agency personnel. The caliber and content of the presentations was excellent and it was a joy to partner with SPAWN.

Next year is the 10th Anniversary of the Confab and Trees Foundation will host the Confab on the Smith or Mattole River in Northwestern California.

Read the Confab agenda here.