Page 8 - 2015 Annual Project Review

Save the Redwoods League’s Prairie Creek Old Mill Site Restoration
LONG-TERM GOAL
Establish the Save the Redwoods League’s Orick Mill Site Property as a key focal location for visitors to RNSP: hosting a restored reach of critical habitat for coho salmon and steelhead in the Redwood Creek estuary, a high-tech demonstration monitoring site (using sonar and video viewing technology), and a visitor trail network and Gateway visitor center at the heart of RNSP.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Developed a 5-year planning schedule and submitted grant proposals for Phase-1 of restoration planning.
WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE IN 2015-16
• Begin data collection describing baseline hydrologic and ecological conditions of the Mill Site Property.
• Secure funding for Phase 1 of the program.
Mad River Estuary Restoration and Public Access
LONG-TERM GOAL
Restore key salmonid off-channel rearing habitat and provide public access, specifically for angling and river recreational uses in the simplified estuarine reach.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Awarded funding from CDFW and the State Coastal Conservancy to develop engineering designs for restoring off-channel rearing habitat, access trails, and water infrastructure.
WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE IN 2015-16
• Conduct community and stakeholder outreach to seek input on design concepts, develop draft alternative designs, and select an environmentally superior restoration design alternative.
Recreation on Mad River. Photo: Mad River Alliance
KEYSTONE INITIATIVE
Regional Advocacy
Solution-Oriented Innovations, Strong Advocacy and Funding Leverage.
Participation in numerous regional and state-wide committees is an essential means of promoting CalTrout’s mission of water and fish resource stewardship. We bring our organizational capacity and regional expertise to the agency managers and staff who develop and implement recovery programs and projects, distribute funding resources, and report back to legislative funding sources on the efficacy of recovery efforts. Without our solution-oriented innovations, strong advocacy positions, and funding leverage, bureaucratic inertia would halt effective recovery efforts.
In the North Coast Region, CalTrout currently participates in: Fisheries Restoration Grants Program Peer Review Committee (FRGP PRC); State Coho Recovery Team (CRT); CA Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead (CAC); and Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG).
LONG-TERM GOAL
Utilize CalTrout’s considerable clout to influence federal, state, and regional managers to pursue our common mission and vision to protect our valued public trust resources, our prized fish communities, and water resources that are at the foundation of California’s vast ecological and economic wealth.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Darren Mierau was recently reappointed by Secretary of Interior, Sally Jewel, to the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group for a renewed three-year appointment.
WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE IN 2015-16
• Continue participation in the FRGP PRC, the CRT, and the CAC on Salmon and Steelhead.
• Continue to influence one of our region’s primary restoration funding sources through participation in the Peer Review Committee, the group that annually reviews and scores restoration grant proposals.
• Advocate for expanded funding and effective science-based recovery for the imperiled coho salmon with state and federal agency partners in the Coho Recovery Team.
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