Grable, J. (2023, January 17). The “messy” creek restoration that will help bring back salmon on the Klamath River. Jefferson Public Radio. https://www.ijpr.org/environment-energy-and-transportation/2023-01-14/the-messy-creek-restoration-that-will-help-bring-back-salmon-on-the-klamath-river
The Mid Klamath Watershed Council, Karuk Tribe, and US Forest Service worked together on a habitat restoration project at Horse Creek, a tributary that flows into the Klamath River. In order to slow the creek down, help retain water from the upper reaches of the forest, and thus help boost the coho salmon population, they dammed part of the river. They have also dug out many ponds, which were cold refuges for the salmon. Due to logging, construction, mining, agricultural activity and nearby hydroelectric dams, the river and the Chinook and Coho salmon who pass through have suffered greatly.
This article is related to environmental science because it explains in great detail how the salmon indigenous to the Karuk River interact with the environment around them and how they are currently under threat. Additionally, the article describes how the restorationists working on this project employed practices that are informed by environmental science to get outcomes that would restore the habitat and the salmon populations. I was blown away by the detail given in this article. I was fascinated with the niches the salmon filled and how exactly restorationists adapted to the damage caused by humans years ago. I was really fascinated by the thoughtfulness of the Karuk Tribe and how they put so much effort into restoring the land around the Karuk River. They have spent years working on this project, and they deserve the utmost praise for it. I’m excited to see where this restoration goes, as all the people involved put a great deal of care into it. I also thought that the methods they used to restore the Klamath River were innovative. The “wood jams” were so fascinating and the log drop offs via helicopter were so cool!
Excellent write up, Carlos. Based on this I just sent you an email from Peter Drekmeier who is part of the River Trust in our area. He’s a local. Of course salmon are near and dear to me too. Fascinating life cycles. Interestingly, the Sockeye Salmon that are landlocked for whatever reason in Redfish Lake, are Koho Salmon. Not sure how that works but the genetics are identical… they just don’t make the trip to the ocean and as a result are way smaller. Since your article was written they have cancelled the salmon fishing for CA, which is a very big deal. Do you think that was the appropriate course of action and necessary for the recovery? You can imagine there are lots of people affected by this. Or could they focus on habitat restoration with limited fishing?
Hey Mr. Powell, thanks for checking out my post! I think that the move to ban salmon fishing was necessary moving forward. Overfishing has become a very destructive problem in California, and if we allowed fishing to continue (even sustainably so), there’s no saying that the Salmon population won’t completely collapse. Non-wild fisheries should of course still be able to operate, however, wild salmon need to be protected at all costs right now. This will satisfy consumers and take stress off of the dwindling salmon population. Additionally, this will bring long term benefits for those fishing the wild salmon as well. In due time, they’ll find that they’re catching much more salmon than they used to because they allowed their population to recover.