Conservation Conservation News
A Natural Flow Regime for the McCloud
11/16/2009
From California Trout, Trout Unlimited, the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, originally published in December 2009 issue of California Fly Fisher.
For over a century, the McCloud River has been a world-renowned fishing destination, known for its overwhelming beauty and as the historic home of rainbow trout now transplanted around the globe. The river has been transformed over the years with the construction of Shasta Dam in 1945 and the loss of salmon and steelhead.
In 1965, PG&E’s new McCloud Dam began the diversion of 80 percent of the McCloud’s spring-fed base flows to the Pit River. This led to the extirpation of bull trout in the McCloud, the southernmost population of bull trout in North America. Yet through all these changes, the beauty and wild-trout fishery continue to draw anglers from around the world. More than 90 percent of the visitors to the McCloud River come to fish for its outstanding rainbow and brown trout.
The McCloud Dam, James B. Black Powerhouse on the Pit River, and Pit Hydro Projects 6 and 7 are up for relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The relicensing process provides an opportunity to assess current conditions and enhance the river’s habitat.
Californian Trout, Trout Unlimited, the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance believe that the McCloud River and its wild trout are robust, and these organizations are working to protect the special attributes of the McCloud. We are recommending flows that preserve and enhance the existing conditions that make the McCloud such a special place.
NCCFFF weighs in on the future of the Smith River
Preliminary Strategic Plan Proposed
by Chuck Bucaria
The NCCFFF has suggested a Preliminary Strategic Plan for the Smith River to the State Fish and Game Commission. Read our document here. NCCFFF Conservation Grants Available
Attention Club Officers
The NCCFFF is making available small grants to clubs doing conservation work. To view the criteria for these grants or down load a submision form click here
Action Alert!! Threat to the Endangered Species Act
The Bush administration recently unveiled a plan that would severely weaken the Endangered Species Act: Do you want to fish for salmon and steelhead or carp?This plan would strip the requirement for independent scientific review of projects that could threaten endangered species, allowing federal agencies to make the final call on how their projects impact these species, which could leave the fox guarding the hen house. For more than 30 years, the ESA has been a safety net for plants and animals on the brink of extinction, including grizzly bears, bald eagles, and gray whales. Yet President Bush wants to gut these protections, despite ESA's overwhelming success. Now is the time to join me and Earthjustice and speak out for the Endangered Species Act. Take action at this link: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/action_esandk_0808?rk=5dAW9G71FlarW or this one: http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/protect_endangered_wildlife/step1
Drought and the San Joaquin Valley
Unemployment problem
Is it really “fish vs. people” as the Governor and Representative Nunes say? To listen to all the rhetoric these days you’d think that people are suffering only because a federal judge and the federal wildlife agencies decided to protect fish. Representative Nunes and our Governor are calling it a regulatory drought and families are suffering as a result. Articles in the L.A. Times and many other papers in California have picked up the story without really checking on data available from the state EDD records. Here is a link that shows the data pretty clearly: http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/?pageid=133
