CalTrout News
CalTrout Receives Funding from Stewardship Council for Hat Creek Restoration Project
The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (Stewardship Council), a land conservation and youth investment foundation, announced it is providing nearly $2 million in funding for enhancement projects on lands owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in the Hat Creek watershed in Shasta County.
These are the first major enhancement projects funded by the Stewardship Council’s historic Land Conservation Program, which seeks to conserve and enhance 140,000 acres of California’s watershed lands for the public good. The projects were developed through collective collaboration involving the Stewardship Council, CalTrout, the Pit River Tribe, Spring Rivers Foundation, PG&E, and other stakeholders.
Andrew Braugh, Shasta-Klamath Regional Director for California Trout, commented,
“The Stewardship Council’s grant support underscores what is possible when diverse partners commit to working together to achieve shared objectives and solve complex resource management challenges. With this project, we’re going to restore a legacy of fly-fishing in California, but more importantly, we’re working to re-connect the Illmawi Band of the Pit River Tribe as the long-term stewards of their ancestral lands on the banks of Hat Creek.”
Approximately $1.4 million of the Stewardship Council’s project funding will go to CalTrout and the Pit River Tribe to restore 1.5 miles of in-stream wild trout habitat and native vegetation along Hat Creek. The project will also build new trails, a pedestrian bridge, and scenic picnic area; enhance fishing opportunities; and protect several historic sites with new fencing, landscaping, and signage.
Read more about the Stewardship Council’s grant in thepinetree.net click here. You can also read the Sacramento Bee’s coverage of the story here.
1 Comment
While I applaud the effort to restore such an important wild trout stream and native Shasta crayfish populations, I am left wondering how the watershed became damaged in the first place. Was it mismanagement by PG & E, the principal landowner? If so, should PG & E be responsible for mitigation? It seems that either the ratepayers or taxpayers will be stuck with the bill! I am glad to see that the local Native American tribes will be involved in the restoration and possibly future ownership. I still support the project, but we all should try harder to prevent habitat damage and make sure whoever is responsible pay the mitigation costs. Is cattle grazing still going on like in the 1970s? I hope not!