Moments That Write History
Celebrating 50 Years of Taking Action for Fish, Water, and People
2021 marks California Trout’s 50th Anniversary – a milestone for a conservation nonprofit that puts us in rare company. We are incredibly proud of the impact we’ve made across the state over the past five decades, and our dedicated members who make it possible.
In celebrating our first half century of watershed stewardship across California, we’re looking back at what we've accomplished over the decades–not simply to pat ourselves on the back, but to recognize the broad reaching influence that a single moment can have on the lasting future of our precious natural resources.
Like ripples in a still morning pond, the impact felt from these Moments That Write History extends much further beyond the immediate results. A simple demonstration project on 3 miles of river can turn into an entirely new model for wild fishery management; a single legislative victory can protect the public trust for generations to come; a scientific hypothesis can steer the agricultural landscape of the entire state of California, and the water policy that guides it.
But we also know our work has only begun. While we honor our past, now is the time to aim our focus on the future, toward what we will accomplish in the next 50 years as the state faces more people, more wildfires, and more threats from climate change than ever before.
Our vision is of a California where water flows free, clean and cold from headwaters to sea – a vision of watersheds teeming with native, wild fish whose resilience and diversity match that of the people throughout this great state we call home.
With all that we have accomplished in the last 50 years, just imagine the landscape-level impact we’ll be celebrating at our centennial.
Watershed Moments
# 1: CalTrout Gets its Feet Wet
Creating a New Model for Wild Trout Management
Hat Creek is, in essence, the birthplace of California Trout – where passion became purpose, where ideas transformed into action, and where a new approach to wild water conservation irrevocably shaped the way we protect California’s wild resources – for the past fifty years, and forever.
# 2: From Principle to Policy
Codifying the California Wild Trout Program
Thanks to the leadership of a nascent CalTrout–whose hard work in 1971 transformed the ethos of wild trout management into official California state policy–dozens of designated Wild Trout Waters stand a fighting chance at remaining strong fisheries for generations to come.
# 7: Fish in Hot Water
Developing a Scientific Method for Fish Conservation
CalTrout's relationship with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences—integral to our approach of putting science into action—culminated with a seminal report that charts the course of conservation for the next 50 years.
# 10: The Moment We've Been Fighting For
Klamath Dams are Coming Down
Decades of work by more than 40 partner organizations are coming to fruition, with the largest dam removal project in United States history now set in motion. The end result will be 300+ miles of habitat reopened for native salmon and steelhead.
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