Currently browsing… California

  • Restoration

    New plan aims to recover native salmon and steelhead in California, reflects TU restoration and policy priorities

    It’s been tough going for salmon and steelhead in California for basically the last century. Dams, diversions, pollution, and habitat loss have hammered many populations to the point where they are now listed or imperiled. The warming climate is intensifying the impacts of these factors. On January 30, Governor Gavin Newsom released a plan for…

  • Dam Removal

    Klamath Reservoir Drawdown Begins

    The world’s largest dam removal project takes another step forward as the reservoirs behind Iron Gate, Copco 1 and JC Boyle Dams begin to be drained In the middle of January, early in the morning on a cold winter’s day, the process to reconnect the Klamath River took another huge step forward. Crews opened the…

  • Restoration

    A Holiday Gift on Dry Dock Gulch

    Juvenile salmon and steelhead are immediately using reconnected habitat on California’s North Coast In September 2023, after years of planning and fundraising, TU’s North Coast Coho Project and their partners completed a fish passage and habitat improvement project on Dry Dock Gulch, a tributary of Northern California’s Big River. The team replaced two small culverts…

  • Science

    Science Guides Native Trout Restoration

    CA’s science staff utilize low-tech processes for restoration in the remote native range of the golden trout There are several drivers of Trout Unlimited’s coldwater conservation work, but science is its beating heart. Many TU staff and volunteers — including the leading fish biologists, entomologists, hydrologists, ecologists, and mapping experts of our Science Program —…

  • Restoration From the field

    Working together for the gold: Meadow restoration in Golden Trout country

    For the California Golden Trout, even minor levels of meadow degradation have big impacts on resident populations.

    Mountain meadows serve as a key habitat for many inland native trout species across the West. Unfortunately for California’s inland trout populations, some sixty percent of meadow habitat in the Sierra Nevada—home to eight distinct native trout species—is considered impaired.  For the California Golden Trout, whose native range sits above 7,500 feet in elevation and…

  • From the field

    NOAA: $20M for Trout Unlimited fish passage work

    Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding supports projects in Washington State, California, Michigan, and Wisconsin This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center announced a broad suite of new projects recommended to receive funding through its Restoring Fish Passage Through Barrier Removal program, supported with new funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Four…