by Nica Knite, Southern California Region Manager
The Southern California Steelhead Coalition (SCSC) is making a comeback! Though it was founded more than a decade ago, in recent years only remnants of the SCSC have functioned… Or at least until eighteen months ago, when a shift started taking place.
New ideas, new participants, and new life started to take root.
Under the leadership of CalTrout’s Southern California Region, the SCSC is reinventing itself with an expanded membership, a new, more-effective structure, and plans to “make steelhead waves” across the southland for years to come.
More than three dozen groups have signed up to participate in the SCSC, and 13 representatives attended our meeting this June.
“Chapters” are being formed in order to provide local forums for ALL conservation stakeholders in a watershed (or group of watersheds) to coordinate, partner, strategically plan, and support community movements for steelhead recovery.
The chapter plans are scalable for the coastwide SCSC, and members will be developing and implementing systematic, cyclical restoration and outreach activities.
The Santa Clara and South Orange/North San Diego Counties (SanDOC) Chapters are underway, the Ventura Chapter is starting up this summer, and Santa Barbara and Santa Monica Mountains Chapters will follow.
CalTrout is pleased that a cadre of fly fishing clubs and the Southwest Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers are participating in the SCSC.
The Southern California Steelhead Coalition will work to provide opportunities for all groups that share an interest in healing our watersheds and protecting our fisheries. Clearly, the engagement of our fly angling community members is greatly appreciated and we look forward to shared projects and high-quality outcomes for the benefit of steelhead.
Questions about participation in the Southern California Steelhead Coalition? Contact Nica Knite: nknite@www.caltrout.org or (619) 269-9207.