On October 5th, California Trout and the Foothill Conservancy hosted the “Wild and Scenic Celebration!” event in Volcano, CA. About 80 attendees came to watch the film “Run Wild, Run Free” by Shane Anderson, short videos by Michael Wier, and listen to live music from the Risky Biscuits.
With the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, we’d like to take a moment and recognize California Trout’s founding members Richard May and Joe Paul. Over 45 years ago, May and Paul were instrumental in helping pass the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act which has helped protect almost 200,000 miles of free-flowing rivers across our state.
It is with great pride that every year California Trout picks outstanding individuals who help carry on that legacy and award them with the Streamkeepers Award. This year we recognize and honor Katherine Evatt and Pete Bell of the Foothill Conservancy and Steve Evans of Friends of the River for their outstanding dedication to help designate 37 miles of the Mokelumne as the latest addition to the state wild and scenic network.
After a 10 years of hard work, the Mokelumne River was officially designated a Wild and Scenic River, signed into law on June 27, 2018 by Governor Edmund G. Brown, becoming the 12th river in our state with this protection status. The Mokelumne River offers critical, cold-water habitat for native salmonids. It is neither stocked nor managed as a fishery in any of the protected sections yet robust populations of wild trout persist in all of these reaches. This is a testament to the quality of the habitat and presence of cold, clean water.
Congrats again to Katherine Evatt and Pete Bell on receiving the Streamkeepers Award. Special thanks to our own Michael Wier for his involvement in the designation process and presenting the awards. Thank you to those of you who came out last Friday to the little town of Volcano CA to help us celebrate 50 years of Wild and Scenic Rivers. Cheers to 50 more years to come!
