Revisiting the genetics of summer and winter steelhead in northern California

By Charlie Schneider Emerging science can meld with policy and restoration efforts to help reach our ultimate goal of improving steelhead runs. A previous post at Wild Steelheaders United highlighted the petition to list summer steelhead on the Eel River in Northern California, and discussed research by scientists at UC Davis that suggests premature migration…

TU partner boosts flow for Russian River coho and steelhead

For the fourth time in the past five years, the Camp Meeker Recreation and Park District has dedicated water to streamflow for coho and steelhead in a key Russian River tributary. Fish need water. And in many smaller streams along the California coast, they don’t get much of it during the dry season. This time…

Thinking big, starting small

Herman Garcia (L) of CHEER and Matt Clifford, California Water Attorney for Trout Unlimited, at an off-stream storage project site along Little Arthur Creek. In 2006, the Pajaro River on California’s central coast came out of obscurity to make national headline—for the wrong reason: it was named the most endangered river in America. Historically, the…

Leave it to the beavers

Editor’s note: TU sent a handful of college students to the Pacific Northwest for this year’s TU Costa 5 Rivers Odyssey to study and fish in the Columbia River basin. With misty morning breaths, the Odyssey crew circled up at the entrance of Black Pine Lake in the mountains of Winthrop, Wash. Already dressed in our…

The cannabis conundrum

This graphic of a tributary to the Eel River shows the intense marijuana cultivation typical of many drainages in California’s Emerald Triangle. The large red circles indicate outdoor grows of more than 100 plants and the pot farms in this drainage alone require more than 15 million gallons of water per growing season. By Matt…

Decline in Deschutes trout hurts local economy

Editor’s note: TU sent a handful of college students to the Pacific Northwest for this year’s TU Costa 5 Rivers Odyssey to study and fish in the Columbia River basin. While floating the eight miles from Warm Springs to Trout Creek on the Deschutes River, you can’t help but notice the vast amounts of watercraft…