From Roy’s Dam to Roy’s Riffles: Removing the Top-Priority Barrier for Central California Coho Salmon
A free-flowing creek replaced a nearly 100-year-old dam in Central California this past year, thanks to a decades-long restoration effort that is intimately tied to the genesis of the Marin County-based Salmon Protection And Watershed Network, or SPAWN. In December 1996, Todd Steiner stopped to look at an old fish ladder on the San Geronimo…
Read MoreRemembering Jene McCovey
August 11, 1951—February 8, 2021 Yurok elder Jene McCovey (August 11, 1951—February 8, 2021) will be greatly missed on the North Coast as a dedicated and inspiring environmental leader. In 2014, Jene was presented with the Circle of Courage award by the Women’s Intercultural Network, and in 2018 she was chosen for the Sempervirens Lifetime…
Read MoreTipping the Scale: With Large Dams Coming Down, Small Ones are Going Up to Restore Balance in Impacted Watersheds
When I moved to the Mattole watershed nearly a decade ago, my new neighbor gave me my first lesson in wood loading. Which is to say, he gently schooled me for foraging firewood from the river bar. He explained how woody debris remaining in the river is critical for creating fish habitat, and offered a…
Read MoreFight of the River People
The Generational Push that Brought Berkshire Hathaway to the Table and Put Dam Removal Back on Track This story was originally published in the North Coast Journal on March 4, 2021 with support from the Community Voices Coalition, a project funded by Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation to support local journalism in…
Read MoreA Day of Action to Undam the Klamath
Fishermen and Environmental Activists Join Tribes in Asking Warren Buffett to Take Down Klamath River Dams This article was originally published as the cover story for News from Native California, Volume 34, Issue 2 (Winter 2020-2021). On October 23, tens of thousands of people joined members of the Karuk, Yurok, Klamath, and Hoopa Valley Tribes…
Read MoreFederal Agencies Need More Funding to Help Respond to Mega-Fires’ Aftermath
While less than 15% of the Eel River watershed is in federal ownership, public lands are of extraordinary importance with regard to production of clean water and native fishes and maintenance of biodiversity. In the wake of the record-setting one-million-acre August Fire and other recent mega-fires, there is an urgent need for federal agencies such…
Read MoreMattole Restoration Community Continues Habitat Support Efforts in the Vital Mattole Estuary
The Mattole Salmon Group (MSG) and the Mattole Restoration Council (MRC) are completing another round of habitat support projects in the vitally important Mattole River Estuary. In summer 2020 these non-profit organizations began work on a second phase of efforts to re-connect historic sloughs to the Estuary and continued work to increase riparian habitat on…
Read MoreThe Mendocino Trail Stewards’ Plan to Transform Jackson
Jackson Demonstration State Forest—the name is a mouthful. JDSF is quicker, but rather clunky and inelegant. Those of us who love this place mostly say “Jackson,” unaware of the history of Jacob Green Jackson, the Vermont transplant who bought a mill at the mouth of Caspar Creek in 1864 with some adjacent timberland thrown into…
Read MoreTrees Foundation Welcomes: Willits Environmental Center!
In 2020, Trees Foundation was thrilled to welcome Willits Environmental Center (WEC) as a Trees Foundation partner group. Kerry Reynolds, the Director of Organizational Development and Outreach for Trees Foundation, recently spoke with WEC founders David and Ellen Drell about their organization’s history. Kerry Reynolds When did Willits Environmental Center get its start? David Drell…
Read MoreThe Best Use of Biomass Isn’t Burning
While the COVID pandemic and the accompanying drop in greenhouse gas emissions had us temporarily focused on other problems, recent bouts of extreme weather are reminders that climate change has not gone away. Global carbon emissions are rebounding, with December 2020 levels exceeding those from December 2019, while decreased tax revenues from the economic crisis…
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