The Smith River is one of California’s premier “Salmon Strongholds.”  The Smith is home to coastal cutthroat trout (seen below), steelhead, and coho and Chinook salmon.  CalTrout has been a trusted partner with the Smith River Alliance (SRA) on decades of conservation projects in the watershed.  Read on for updates on the Smith projects.  For more information please visit www.smithriveralliance.org.

Strip mine proposed in the North Fork watershed

Red Flat Nickel Corporation, a foreign-owned company is proposing to mine nickel in the headwaters of the North Fork Smith in Oregon’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.  Environmental documents will soon be released for the exploratory work.  CalTrout, SRA and many other state and national fishery and conservation organizations are working to secure a mineral withdrawal in order to prevent mining.  Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and his staff are leading this important work.  Please call or email California Senator’s Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to assist with this effort.  Obviously, strip mining is incompatible with protection of salmon, steelhead, and trout habitat!  One of the locations proposed to be strip mined is Baldface Creek, a tributary of the North Fork Smith River.  Baldface Creek contributes approximately ¼ of the flow to the North Fork Smith River and is a significant spawning and rearing tributary for coho salmon, Chinook salmon and steelhead.  It is designated critical habitat for coho salmon and field biologists have documented coho well above the proposed exploratory drilling sites.  Mining is also proposed in the adjacent Rough and Ready Creek drainage which is tributary to the Wild and Scenic Illinois River. Potential impacts from this strip mine include water diversion, water pollution due to the leaching of metals and increased sediment and erosion, accidental release of processing chemicals and fluids and air pollution. The process of extracting nickel generates high amounts of chromium which is a toxic waste.  CalTrout and SRA will continue their work and vigilance on this issue.  Look for more news in CalTrout’s Trout Clout.

Hurdygurdy Creek success

SRA is now 2/3 complete on the purchase and transfer of the 5,400-acre Hurdygurdy Creek property into the Smith River National Recreation Area.  Hurdygurdy Creek is one of the best producing salmon and steelhead streams within the National Recreation Area and SRA and CalTrout have waged a campaign to secure appropriations for this project over the last several years.  Special thanks to Senator Feinstein and Congressmen Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman for their assistance.

National stewardship and partnership award

SRA has been awarded the 2013 National Wild and Scenic River Award for Outstanding Stewardship of River Resources.  The award letter states “SRA has been the primary partner with the Forest Service in the protection, management, and stewardship of the 300 mile Smith River Wild and Scenic River system in Northern California.  SRA has been instrumental in securing key inholdings, leading local river planning and habitat restoration, and delivering river stewardship education activities for youth and local communities within the Smith River watershed. Their work and the positive results exemplify what it means to implement outstanding stewardship of river resources.”  Inasmuch as CalTrout helped launch SRA over thirty years ago —- and has been a steady partner through decades of restoration and protection projects —- thank you, CalTrout for your partnership!  Teamwork is how we get it done.