This photo shows the flow of James Creek after the restoration project. (Photo courtesy of Mendocino Land Trust)
Land Trust also seeking summer interns for future projects
A four-year restoration project on James Creek in Mendocino County has led to “the return of spawning coho salmon to the upper reaches of a tributary of Big River,” the Mendocino Land Trust announced.
The project was a collaboration between the Land Trust, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Jackson Demonstration State Forest, and “initial post-restoration informal surveying has already shown increased coho salmon spawning activity, demonstrated by several coho salmon nests (known as redds) and coho salmon carcasses upstream from the restoration site,” the Land Trust explains.
The man-made barrier that was the focus of the project was significantly restricting spawning coho salmon, cutting them off from miles of prime habitat further upstream. Begun in 2014, the complicated project involved several phases of barrier removal, gradually replacing it with a series of weirs which slow and pool the flowing water while incrementally increasing in elevation.
“This was a challenging project, with amazing contributions from CDFW and our contractors,” said Doug Kern, Mendocino Land […]
Full article: Restoration project improves salmon habitat in Mendocino County creek
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