Currently browsing… California
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 —…
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Planning for Salmon and Steelhead to Return as the Klamath Dams Come Down
As the largest river restoration effort in history moves forward, Oregon and California plan for fish reintroduction and monitoring After decades of determined advocacy, tribes and conservation partners are now on the precipice of removing the four dams of the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project. For over a century, these dams have degraded water quality and…
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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…
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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…