Streamkeeper’s bLog – August 2021
Streamkeeper’s bLog – August 2021
Looking to the Future
A word from CalTrout’s ED, Curtis Knight
It’s the end of August, which means closing out summer vacations, sending the kids back to school, and dodging seasonal wildfires. I hope that you have stayed safe and continue to be.
There’s no denying the severity of it all. Our state currently has drier conditions than even at the height of our last drought and a wildfire season that is poised to be among the worst on record. Scientists say that climate change is making the situation worse. According to a substantial report released this month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the impacts of climate change—warming temperatures, shifts in precipitation, and habitat degradation—are already severe and widespread in every region and across the whole climate system. This leaves no question that fish and wildlife are experiencing harmful effects.
Despite the report’s ill-fated findings, there was another crucial point: there is still time to act on climate change. Now is the time to think big, focus on solutions, and implement them as quickly as possible. And in direct response, you are helping CalTrout scale up to take on the increasing impacts of climate change on our water and fish.
The IPPC report highlights nature-based solutions as a tool for climate mitigation because of the benefits to human well-being. Healthy and restored lands not only enhance aesthetics and improve quality of life; they are also powerful in capturing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. For example, meadows, estuaries, riparian areas, and forest lands, when healthy, hold immense amounts of carbon. When degraded, this capacity declines which releases more carbon to the atmosphere. The majority of CalTrout’s work lies in protecting these healthy ecosystems and restoring those that have been degraded—building and investing in the natural capital of California to make for a better future for us now and generations to come.
You can learn more about the work that you make possible by checking out CalTrout’s 2021 Watershed Review, hot off the presses.
So while the skies here are smoky for now, the future remains clear: CalTrout is dedicated to ensuring healthy waters and resilient wild fish for a better California.
Best,
