Monday, July 22 at Wine and Roses Garden Room
8-9am Registration and Light Breakfast Buffet
9am Orientation Presentation
- Why Spring-Run?: Questions, Challenges, and Opportunities for Salmon Recovery in the Central Valley, Rene Henery, PhD, California Science Director, Trout Unlimited
9:30am-11am Spring Run Chinook Status Reports
- Butte Creek Success: Promise and Problems, Allen Harthorn, Friends of Butte Creek
- Yuba River Spring-run Chinook Salmon: Restoration Progress, and New Perspectives, Gary Reedy, South Yuba River Citizen’s League
- Mill Creek Spring-Run Chinook Salmon: Population Status and Trends in Historical and Current Run-Timing, Matt Johnson, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Size and Timing of Spring-run Chinook Salmon in the San Joaquin, Tim Heyne, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife
Noon-1pm Lunch
1-5pm Presentations and Panel Discussions
- Managing for Multiple Species in the Central Valley, Jacob Katz, PhD, Director of Salmon and Steelhead, Cal Trout
- Panel Discussion Regarding Race Segregation with Rene Henery, PhD, (Moderator) California Science Director, Trout Unlimited, Jacob Katz, PhD, Trout Unlimited, Rhonda Reed, NOAA Fisheries, and Tim Heyne, DFW
- Lessons from Channel and Floodplain Restoration on the Stanislaus and Merced Rivers, Jesse Anderson, Cramer Fish Sciences and Rocko Brown, ESA PWA
- Can We Develop Comprehensive Flow Regimes that Support Channel and Floodplain Rehabilitation? Eric Ginney, ESA PWA
- Status of Spring-run Brood Stock Development for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, Michelle Workman, Anadromous Fisheries Restoration Program, US Fish and Wildlife Service
6-8pm Poster Session, Light Reception and Networking
Tuesday, July 23 Full-Day Concurrent Field Tours
Merced River Salmonid Habitat Restoration Field Tour
Tour Coordinator: Michelle Workman, AFRP, US FWS
The Merced River, a tributary to the San Joaquin River, contains the southern-most extent population of native Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the world and supports a population of native Central Valley steelhead trout (O. mykiss) as well. Years of mining, flood control and flow management have greatly altered the river's access to historic floodplains, important for juvenile salmonid rearing, food production and groundwater recharge. These changes have also coarsened and over-deepened historic spawning habitats for these iconic species. In 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Cramer Fish Sciences initiated a large-scale project to restore ~40 acres of floodplain and off-channel habitat. Gravel obtained from mine tailings where the floodplain has been created has also been injected into the river channel to improve spawning habitat conditions. The final year of construction activities at the Merced River Ranch are scheduled to occur later this summer. This field trip will provide a tour of the project site, and offer opportunities to discuss general project designs, construction issues and habitat use by target species.
The second project site we will visit is located just a few miles downstream of the Merced River Ranch at Henderson Park. Henderson Park has completed the outreach and design phase, and is currently in the early stages of construction. The two main objectives for this project site are to improve access to floodplain habitat for juvenile salmonids, while adding spawning gravel material obtained from the mine tailings to the river channel to improve spawning habitat conditions for adults. Henderson Park is a great location to enjoy your lunch adjacent to the Merced River under some large shade trees.
Stanislaus River Salmonid Habitat Restoration Field Tour
Tour Coordinator: Joe Merz PhD, and Jesse Anderson, Cramer Fish Sciences
The Stanislaus River below New Melones Dam contains populations of both fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and Central Valley steelhead trout (O. mykiss). Years of mining, flood control and urbanization downstream of the dam have greatly altered the river’s ability to access historic floodplains, important for juvenile salmonid rearing, food production and groundwater recharge. In 2007, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Anadromous Fish Restoration Program (AFRP), along with Cramer Fish Sciences (CFS), began a habitat restoration project with a focus of improving rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids. This field trip will provide a tour of the project site, and offer opportunities to discuss general project design, challenges and current habitat use by target species. If there is time we will visit a second project site that is in the initial stages of design and permitting.