April 2007 Watershed Highlight of the Month

California Watershed Network Congratulates Salmonid Restoration Federation on their 25th Anniversary of Watershed Restoration Education!

Over 500 watershed enthusiasts migrated to the North Coast to attend the 25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference in Santa Rosa, California. This silver anniversary conference was entitled, “Celebrating a Generation of Salmonid Restoration and Recovery,” and highlighted the evolving restoration field and global issues that are affecting salmonid recovery.

Read more about the conference and the Salmonid Restoration Federation.

The conference included full-day workshops on dam removal and FERC relicensing, fish passage barrier removal tools, and estuary and lagoon restoration. Field tours visited sustainable grazing sites in southern Sonoma and western Marin counties, Sonoma vineyards with salmon-friendly agricultural practices, rivermouth to ridgeline in the Dutch Bill Creek watershed, steelhead habitat restoration projects on Upper Sonoma Creek, bioengineering and in-stream restoration projects, and the headwaters to Mouth of Austin Creek watershed as well as a short tour of urban creek restoration projects in the Prince Memorial Greenway.

Concurrent sessions focused on environmental, biological, and policy issues that affect Salmonid habitat restoration and recovery of native fish populations including water diversions and the associated water quality and quantity issues on the North Coast, Coho Recovery efforts in California, the economic, cultural and recovery impacts of fisheries closures, coastal watershed planning and restoration, salmonid and watershed environmental education, Salmonid recovery downstream of large reservoirs, measuring watershed condition and management performance, fluvial geomorphology, assessing Best Management Practicies, and regional land use planning and implementation strategies in aquatic conservation.

The plenary session featured prominent keynote speakers including UC Davis Fisheries Professor Peter Moyle who addressed “Climate Change and the state of California salmonid recovery efforts,” Nat Scholz from NOAA Fisheries who discussed coho recovery in the light of toxicity in urban streams, Freeman House, author of Totem Salmon who addressed grassroots watershed efforts in the face of global warming, and Brock Dolman who provided a global perspective on watershed restoration. Seth Zuckerman, editor of Salmon Nation, facilitated the Plenary.

Other highlights of the conference included the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, SRF’s annual meeting, a poster session and reception, and a cabaret, a Copper River salmon banquet, and a lively dance party with Latin-dance band Sambada.

The 2008 conference will be in the San Joaquin Valley. To learn more about Salmonid Restoration Federation trainings, please visit www.calsalmon.org.

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