Restoring Your Watershed

September 2, 2008


The Coho Confab is an annual symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and network with other fish-centric people. In an informal setting that encourages networking and connection, participants learn skills and practices that can be applied to restore habitats in their home watersheds. Always in a beautiful outdoor setting within the range of the coho, each year the Confab is held in a different location on the North Coast. This year, the 11th annual Confab will be held on the South Fork of the Smith River in the far northwestern corner of California on the weekend of September 26-28.

Trees Foundation and the Salmonid Restoration Federation are the permanent co-hosts of this educational event and, this year, the Confab is also sponsored by Smith River Alliance, Smith River Advisory Council, and Cal Trout. Orientation presentations will include an opening talk about the significance of the Mill Creek watershed acquisition in protecting and restoring a salmon stronghold by Grant Werschkull of Smith River Alliance. Tom Weseloh of Cal Trout will discuss issues about coho Salmon from the California Endargered Species Act listing to local restoration projects. Research Ecologist Frank Lake will present on how upslope fire and forest management affect fish by providing a review of tribal and scientific knowledge about the effects of fires on fisheries.

Participants will visit fish passage projects in creeks, like Cedar Creek above, in the Smith River watershed. Photo: Antonio Llanos

Field restoration tours will include the Mill Creek watershed, tributaries of the South Fork, Yontucket Slough, and the Smith River estuary. Randy Lew of Pacific Watershed Associates will lead a tour of road decommissioning and erosion control projects in Dominie and Rowdy Creeks. State Park geologist Rocco Fiori will discuss experimental wood loading designs to enhance stream function and salmonid habitats. A full-day tour of Mill Creek restoration projects will include presentations by Dan Burgess of Rural Human Services, who will lead a tour of the native plant nursery for Mill Creek restoration. Lathrope Leonard of Redwood National and State Parks will lead a forestry tour focusing on restoring late seral forests, and Brian Merrill of California State Parks will discuss backcountry road management in North Coast Redwoods State Parks and rehabilitating watershed function. Rod McLeod of the Mill Creek Monitoring Program will lead a hands-on workshop which will assess juvenile coho summer abundance estimation in Mill Creek.

Additionally, Zack Larson, Watershed Coordinator of the Smith River Advisory Council, will facilitate a Smith River fish identification workshop. Antonio Llanos of Mike Love & Associates will lead a tour of fish passage projects and will co-lead a tour of Yontocket Slough and the Smith River estuary with Larson. Other workshops include instream fish identification, macro-invertebrate sampling, and a stream health assessment. There will be an open forum entitled "Stories and Songs of Salmon" with native stories from Frank Lake and river troubadour Alice di Micele. Saturday night will culminate with a BBQ and music with musician Alice di Micele.

Registration is $125, which includes all camping, food, and lodging. For more information about the Confab, please
visit www.treesfoundation.org/cohoconfab/ to register online and obtain logistical info, or call the Trees Foundation at (707) 923-4377.


This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-326

Forest & River News is produced by Trees Foundation.