On April 7, the long effort to restore the Klamath River and its once-prolific salmon and steelhead runs passed another major milestone when the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued its Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certification for the removal of the Lower Klamath Project. The Lower Klamath Project includes the
As the old Toyota truck bounced over the river rocks and headed toward the water I couldn’t help smiling to myself. My brother and I sat together in the cab, our dad behind the wheel. He was dropping us at the river for a day fishing, like so many times before. “You guys be careful,”
Last week Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) turned up the volume on the issue of recovering Snake River salmon and steelhead. Not that the issue wasn’t front and center for him before. He has been battling to find ways to bring back Idaho’s dwindling salmon and steelhead populations for years. But now that a long-anticipated Draft Environmental Impact Statement has outlined a “business as usual” approach – indeed, the preferred alternative does
I didn’t fish the opener of the winter steelhead season this year. Apparently, I have a thing about symmetry as I didn’t fish the close, either. A combination of real-life factors kept me off the water on these dates. I found solace in a petition to the Steelhead Whisperer for on-the-water reports. Thus it was
Steelheaders, anglers, and river-lovers of all types in Washington state have new water quality improvements and greater protections for critical wild fish populations to celebrate this month.
The impacts of dams on anadromous (sea-run) fish are well documented. But today, many dams have outlived their usefulness, or become unprofitable or unsafe. Removing such dams is now a proven way to recover salmon and steelhead populations. Trout Unlimited has supported the removal or retrofitting of dams on a number of high-profile salmon and
In praise of urban trout streams The thought occurred to me while I was fishing under the Highway 20 bridge over the lower Yuba River in California’s Gold Country. To reach the water I had crossed a floodplain so altered by quarrying, mining and off-road vehicles that it more resembled a moonscape than a functional
