In July 2024, CalTrout and our partners launched the Klamath River Monitoring Program to build our understanding of dam removal including how fish repopulate newly opened habitat and how they recover from landscape level restoration. The project team consists of a diverse group of interests including tribes, governmental entities, and non-profits.
How many salmon and steelhead are moving into the newly accessible habitat? What time of year are they moving? Where are they going after entering the restored area? These are all questions that the project team will answer through this program.
We will use a combination of methods in concert to learn from the salmon and steelhead returning to the Klamath following dam removal. These methods include SONAR imaging, netting, radio telemetry, and spawner surveys. SONAR imagery will give us an eye into turbid waters to record movie like imagery of passing fish on a continuous basis. Netting will document fish species assemblages, age, length and genetic information and allow us to attach tags to fish. Radio telemetry will help us track fish migration into the 400 miles of newly re-opened habitat. Spawner surveys will give us information about their nesting locations. Together, these methods will follow the fish to uncover how they are responding to dam removal and inform how to focus future restoration efforts.
The project team consists of dedicated individuals representing the Yurok Tribe, Karuk Tribe, Klamath Tribes, Ridges to Riffles, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Cal Poly Humboldt, U.S. Geological Survey, Resource Environmental Solutions, and CalTrout.
This project is made possible through support from the Humboldt Area and Wild Rivers Community Foundation, Bella Vista Foundation, Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Thank you for your interest in Big Chico Creek and the Iron Canyon Fish Passage Project! We looking forward to sharing project updates, news, and stories with you from the Big Chico Creek watershed as they develop.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.