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Mattole Restoration n e ws
wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 IssUe #31
The Future of Restoration – new Tools and Big Dreams
By Joel Monschke
One of the main goals that inspired the founding of the MRC was to restore local salmonid populations through a watershed-wide approach to restoring natural systems. so, how do we get there? Amid this political climate of hope and alarm—with the state’s financial crisis freezing some of our work—we will have to stay on the cutting edge of planning, implementation, and monitoring techniques if we want to continue garnering support in financially tough times. Planning has been part of the MRC’s work since our 1989 catalog of erosion sources, elements of Recovery, and the current development of Mattole watershed Plan 2.0 takes that process to the next level. However, our efforts to achieve this goal can all be broken down into the simplest, yet most difficult question of all: what are the largest limiting factors that threaten salmonid populations and how do we treat those problems? I do not claim to have an answer to this difficult question, but may be able to offer some insight—at least as far as sediment is concerned. I have a background in geology and hydrology, and have seen on-the-ground conditions across much of the watershed. In many of the headwater creeks, the streambanks and hillslopes are stabilizing, a significant portion of the sediment sources have been treated, and hydrologic processes appear to be functioning naturally. while certain components—like abundant large wood—may still be lacking, improved hydrology allows for regrowth of the riparian canopy and the formation of pools. However, in recent years, many of these tributaries are suffering from a new ailment: the potentially catastrophic lack of late summer flows, especially prevalent in drought years like the summer of 2008. sanctuary Forest is taking the lead on this issue as its staff develops a hydrologic model and groundwater management plan to help provide a framework for future projects. Although low summer flows contribute to poor habitat conditions in the lower river, the presence of excessive sediment compounds the problem. sedimentation caused by the great floods of 1955 and 1964, and aggravated by poor logging prac-
We dream of a restored watershed that may one day provide for salmon and steelhead runs in the Mattole that are abundant enough to support sustainable subsistence harvests. The fishermen above caught these fish in the Mattole River early in the 20th century. Photo courtesy of Laura Cooskey, Mattole Valley Historical Society tices and development, has been flushed out of the upper tributaries. This sediment persists in lower-gradient reaches throughout the watershed and wreaks havoc on natural hydrologic processes. In turn, the fish suffer, especially in the estuary where shallow water and a lack of riparian canopy often lead to low survival in the summer months. significant work has been done to improve estuary conditions, with the Mattole salmon Group installing habitat and streambank stabilization structures. More site-specific work is scheduled, but to reach ideal conditions, a much broader, watershed-wide restoration approach is necessary. Indeed, this comprehensive approach is already underway with upslope sediment reduction projects throughout the watershed. However, many questions arise when we try to envision these projects as part of a watershed-wide program of recovery. For example: how does a streambank stabilization project in one part of the watershed affect the estuary? How fast is sediment moving through the system? where can restoration activities have the most effect? How long will it take for conditions to improve? Intrigued by these questions, we have begun to develop a sediment-modeling project. This modeling tool will interpret the processes that shape stream channels and landforms throughout
“what are the largest limiting factors that threaten salmonid populations, and how do we treat those problems? ”
Mattole Restoration Council
P.O. Box 160 Petrolia, California 95558
“New Tools and Big Dreams” - continued on page 10
nOn-PROFIT U.s. POsTAGe PAID PeRMIT nO. 5 PeTROLIA, CA 95558
In this issue...
Page 3: Putting the U Back in Council Page 4: Forest Practices Program, PTeIR Page 5: Mattole Turbidity study Page 6: Lampreys of the Mattole Page 7: Mattolians Unite in weed Control Pages 8 & 9: native Grasslands enhancement Page 11: Community Celebrates Restoration Page 13: Dilemma in Late september Page 14: staff and Board Updates Page 15: Moving to Petrolia & Going Home Page 16: Mattole salmon Group news
Mattole Restoration
newsletter
Published twice yearly by:
The Mattole Restoration Council Headquarters Office P.O. Box 160 Petrolia, CA 95558 Phone: (707) 629-3514 Fax: (707) 629-3577 email: mrc@mattole.org Upriver Office P.O. Box 223 • whitethorn, CA 95589 Phone: (707) 986-1078 email: upriver@mattole.org
From the executive Director…
On Dangers, Opportunities, and Change
Two thousand eight, right down to its very last days, was a year filled with accomplishment, excitement, change, peril and risk. MRC’s Good Roads, Clear Creeks program completed another highly successful construction season, stabilizing 106,832 cubic yards of sediment that had threatened to enter the river and its tributaries. Our wild and working Lands program planted out 31,050 native tree and grass starts, many of which we raised from seed in our burgeoning native plant nursery in Petrolia. The Telegraph Ridge fire break completed the eye-pleasing roadside forest improvement from Honeydew clear to the watershed’s boundary at ettersburg Junction. The closely watched Pacific Lumber bankruptcy ended in a widely praised resolution that put the management of 18,000 acres of ecologically critical Mattole timberlands in the hands of a company with a far better environmental track record than its predecessor on that land, the Maxxam Corporation. we welcome Humboldt Redwood Company and look forward to future collaboration toward our mutual goals of watershed heath and sustained productivity.
www.mattole.org
mattole restoration council Vision
we look forward to a time in the Mattole watershed when “restoration” will no longer be needed to address the effects of our land-use practices, and the watershed and its human communities are healthy and self-sustaining. we seek to educate ourselves regarding the natural processes at work involving the flora, fauna, geology, and streams of the Mattole; to learn about best land management practices; and to share with our neighbors what we learn. we hope that over time, a common understanding of these factors will help to shape broadly held community standards that will sustain the natural endowment of this place for future generations. Processes of recovery are already at work in the Mattole. we will apply what we learn by undertaking cooperative projects in watershed restoration to enhance those processes, healing the landscape as we heal our relations with one another.
BoarD of Directors
Marcia ehrlich • sally French • Freeman House Dave Kahan • Michele Palazzo Gary “Fish” Peterson • Cassie Pinnell • Claire Trower Hartwell welsh • Rob Yosha • Ken Young
“we will continue to promote watershed restoration as an essential public infrastructure, very much worthy of public investments.”
Amid these and other accomplishments too numerous to mention here, arose less encouraging circumstances. we lost our long time restoration maestro and fire-safe visionary JJ Hall. The Mattole River posted its lowest flows in 58 years of recordkeeping. when the rains finally did come, they failed to produce the high water that would provide the salmon full passage to their headwaters spawning gravels, and many spawned in sub-optimal locations low in the river. And in the last days of the year, the state of California—our single largest funder— announced to us (and hundreds of other organizations across the state) that it was unable to sell its bonds on the open market and would no longer pay for contracted work, starting yesterday (happy holidays!). sure enough, the global financial meltdown had found its way to our little corner of the world. Fortunately, MRC’s finances are diversified enough that this bond funding freeze will not shut us down. It does however have the potential to severely impact our ongoing projects and ability to deliver on our restoration mission. It all depends on the duration of the freeze, which in turn depends on our legislators’ ability to balance the state budget and earn back the trust of global investors. In this context of uncertainty and risk, we look forward with renewed resolve. There is always opportunity to be found within challenges, and we do have cause for optimism as we look toward the coming years. Our organization and our partners have invested much in developing stronger collaborative frameworks. early in 2009 we will publish our next iteration of the Mattole watershed Plan, presenting a collective vision for the next ten years of place-based restoration. In addition, we will finalize our next fiveyear strategic Plan, identifying MRC’s particular roles in the larger Mattole watershed restoration effort. we welcome President Obama’s ideas for jump-starting the economy through public infrastructure projects. we will continue to promote watershed restoration as an essential public infrastructure, very much worthy of public investments. And we look forward to working with you, our members and friends, in all of the work ahead. we are constantly reminded of the value of community involvement in the work of watershed restoration. These challenging times only emphasize its importance. To provide your input, drop a line to our new letters to the editor feature, or simply address your thoughts to me, and I will see they are distributed among our directors and officers. we look forward to hearing from you!
staff
F. Jeremy wheeler • executive Director Claire Trower • Bookkeeper steve Lovett • Contracts Director Pamela Conn • Contracts Manager nancy smith • Office Manager Jessica wygal • Office Assistant wild and working Lands seth Zuckerman • Matt Cocking • Ali Freedlund Mike Gordon • Hugh McGee • Andrew nash Monica scholey Good Roads, Clear Creeks Joel Monschke • Jessica DeKelver • Angie Frerichs Janna Pingle ecological education: C. Moss • Theresa Vallotton GIs/IT Department: Kimi Feuer • stephanie Cepellos watershed Planner: stephen Umbertis Resource Center & Development: Lauren Lubowicki Outreach Associate: Flora Brain Monitoring Coordinator: nathan Queener Americorps Mentor: Blase Bonpane Americorps watershed stewards Project Members: David Bloch • Lindsey Baris
neWsletter ProDuction
editors Flora Brain • Amanda Malachesky • seth Zuckerman Layout and Design Flora Brain Co nt r i b u to r s : Aramis Andrews • Kayden Blair • Flora Brain Kate Cenci • Dakota Cox • stephanie Cepellos Israel Dellamas • Ali Freedlund • Mike Gordon Jen Hayes • Lauren Lubowicki • Hugh McGee Joel Monschke • C. Moss • Andrew nash • Tyler Pietila • nathan Queener • skyler strange • Isaac west Jeremy wheeler • Jacob York • seth Zuckerman Bella Vista Foundation • Bureau of Land Management California Department of Fish and Game • California Fire safe Council • Cereus Fund • County of Humboldt Dean witter Foundation • Humboldt Area Foundation McLean Foundation • Mountaineers Foundation • national Fish and wildlife Foundation • national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • Patagonia, Inc. • Ray and Marie Raphael • Resources Legacy Fund Foundation Rose Foundation • save the Redwoods League • state Coastal Conservancy • state water Resources Control Board • Trees Foundation • Us environmental Protection Agency • Us Fish and wildlife service • Us Forest service UsDA Rural Development and MRC Members and Friends of the Mattole.
The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of our funders, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
And a special Thank You to our supporters...
Letters to the editor Policy
Do you have thoughts on the natural processes at work in the Mattole? Do you have questions or ideas to share about their restoration? we’d like to hear them. starting in the next issue, Mattole Restoration news will have a dedicated space for letters to the editor. Please email your letters to the editor – 300 words or fewer – to flora@mattole.org or mail them to MR news editor, PO Box 160 Petrolia, CA 95558. Letters should include your full name and place of residence. we may edit for space and clarity.
2 • wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news
Putting the U Back in Council
By Lauren Lubowicki
On a sunny, July afternoon in 1983, over 30 residents sat under the shady protection of the world’s largest madrone tree engaged in a discussion of the health of their watershed and its effect on diminishing salmon runs. By the end of the meeting, the Mattole Restoration Council was formed, with two basic premises: 1) a watershed-wide focus on restoration was needed in order to create the habitat conditions necessary for salmon to thrive; and 2) the people best suited to do this work of restoration were the individuals who lived here. pation from you, there would—quite literally—be no place to restore. each landowner and resident is an expert on his/her piece of land. The Council depends on this knowledge and information exchange to identify sites that could be improved by direct restoration efforts, and to understand how each piece of land has changed through time. In addition to helping guide on-the-ground restoration projects, members play a significant role in guiding the overall strategic direction of the Council. The Council’s Board of Directors ultimately guides the current and future direction of the organization, and it is members within the watershed who decide who will fill these seats. Members have the opportunity to nominate themselves and others to run in our board election, as well as cast their vote for whom they would like to see in this position. It is especially important that our members and Board of Directors fairly represent the diversity of opinions that exist within our watershed. Middle Mattole rancher and Council board member sally French stressed the importance of having the ranching perspective represented within the Council: “Ranchers own the largest sections of property in the Mattole watershed; whatever they do is important to all. expanding our membership in this direction is important...who belongs to an organization ultimately controls the direction that organization takes on issues important to all of us.” On the financial level, membership dollars provide the Council with steady funds that may be used in areas of greatest need. As a watershed community, we understand that restoring the Mattole is best done by the people who live here, but what we don’t often consider is the relative instability of relying on outside sources to fund this work. This is apparent now more than ever, as our largest funder announced in the last weeks of December that its bond-funded contracts are on hold indefinitely. An important way to combat this instability is with support from all sectors of our watershed population who have an interest in returning the Mattole to a healthy and productive community for all inhabitants.
Participants at the 1999 Mattole Restoration Council membership meeting. Photo: MRC Archives The importance of active, individual participation in restoration activities caused the Council to incorporate in 1986 as a membership organization. This structure allowed the Council and Mattolians to rely on one another for mutual support: the Council served as a resource for information, workers, project coordination, and funds for landowners interested in restoring their piece of the watershed. Landowners and residents provided the intimate knowledge of place that would be necessary to complete a goal as lofty as the revitalization of an entire watershed. Individual members were the heart of the Council, as well as the entire restoration effort. Fast forward to today. The increased understanding of the importance of watershed-wide health in fisheries restoration led to an increase in the amount of funds available to complete restoration activities. This forced the Council to become more structured in its daily operations in order to handle the increased organizational demands of grants and contracts. This growth and more formalized role of the Council within the community changed how many residents, and even members, felt about the organization. According to co-founder Freeman House, “In the past, the distinction of being an MRC staff member was almost non-existent. The relationship was more like neighbors knocking on doors and asking for permission to complete projects, not a formal staff member of one of the larger institutions in the watershed working for a specific program. The formalizing of the role of staff and the increase in the size of the MRC has changed that nostalgic relationship that many people desire.” This growth spurt, however, made lofty restoration goals more attainable, as the scope of projects increased and allowed many individuals to actually earn a living by restoring this place. Today, we are treating a larger percentage of the watershed than we have in our history, and are now one of the largest employers in the Mattole. Despite this positive change for the health of this place and the future of our fisheries, many watershed residents have come to question the importance of their individual membership within an organization that has become comparatively large since its inception. The ironic reality of the situation is that while times have changed and the organization has evolved, members are still the lifeblood of the Council and the entire restoration effort. with 80% of the watershed in private ownership, active involvement on the part of watershed residents and landowners is critical to the success of restoration efforts. without partici-
“while times have changed and the organization has evolved, members are still the lifeblood of the Council.”
At this time, we invite you to re-engage with the Council and let your voice be heard on all things watershed-related. In the spirit of maintaining an active, committed, and engaged membership, we have re-introduced a letters to the editor column to provide a forum for discussion about restoration in the Mattole. we hope to open up lively discussions, providing a space for passionate ideas that will propel us well into the future. see page 2 for specific guidelines, and stay tuned to our website in the coming months for an online version. Our monthly board meetings are also open to the public. If you would like to attend a board meeting either to observe or discuss an issue, please contact nancy at our Petrolia office. we look forward to hearing from you, as it will take all of us in this watershed, working together and separately, to take on the goals that were laid out on that July day in 1983. To become a member of the Council, please fill out and return the enclosed envelope. wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news • 3
The evolving story of the Forest Practices Program
By Ali Freedlund
Once upon an era, in a wee watershed on the westernmost coast of our continental crust, there flourished young bounding hills filled with towering trees that spread out in every direction except in the domains of water and grass. This is the beginning of a story about the Mattole watershed and how human enterprise in the forests changed the dynamics of this place. since its inception, the Mattole Restoration Council has been a voice for the salmon and the watershed. The Forest Practices Program, one of the Council’s oldest programs, regularly commented on proposed Timber Harvest Plans (THPs), asking for additional protections to ensure no further impacts to salmon habitat or the integrity of the watershed, which included the retention of any remaining old growth—more than 90 percent of which was cut in the Mattole from 1947 to 1988. In addition, a mainstay of the program was to encourage watershed residents to get involved in the public comment process and advocate for their place. As the coordinator of the program for over 12 years, I can attest that this work was completed in crisis mode. we got the word out to affected neighbors, prepared our technical review and attended review meetings. A few times we succeeded in gaining major changes to the plans, sometimes minor changes were incorporated, but, most often, the activities went ahead regardless. Over the past five years, the priorities of the program have shifted from crisis management toward envisioning how we can support forest management into the future. This major shift has been in response to several things: a severe drop in the log market and thus few actual harvest plans to review, an involvement with Humboldt Redwood Company land (formerly Pacific Lumber Company or PL), and a pattern of working forestlands being subdivided—some inappropriately—into rural residential properties. Participating in PL’s watershed analysis in the Mattole took me out in the field to see the spread of the land, finally. After a decade of reviewing only paperwork, I was impressed with the vitality that remained there, the wildness. And now, the new owners, Humboldt Redwood Company, have pledged both an end to clearcuts and old-growth logging—two of our biggest concerns. During PL’s bankruptcy, the largest threat, however, was that their holdings would be broken up into smaller parcels. As lands get subdivided, forests get fragmented and degraded: precious water is diverted, more roads and landings are built, exotic flora and fauna compete with native species, and in some cases toxins are introduced. It is high time to support working forests, both at the industrial level and at the private residential level, in order to keep landscapes intact. Therefore it was a natural to be asked and agree to serve on the steering committee for the PTeIR (see related article below). In addition, the Forest Practices Program is participating in the Buckeye Forest Project, examining ways to reduce costs for small forestland owners who keep their working forests healthy and productive, and thus less likely to be subdivided. On February 11 and 12, the Project is convening Forest Futures II, a two-day conference in Ferndale that will explore ways to weather the downturn in our wood products market on both a private and regional scale. If you want more information contact Ali at 8224477 or ali@mattole.org. To register call UC Cooperative extension at 445-7351. Though we can never return to the unmarred landscape at the beginning of the story, we can, excitedly, with forethought this time, envision a Mattole and a county where working forests provide for both humans and critters in an enduring and vital way.
The PTeIR Inches Along
By seth Zuckerman
since it was founded in 1983, the Council’s mission has included a focus on sustainable harvest of nature’s gifts, alongside its quest for ecological recovery. Through the MRC’s Program Timberland environmental Impact Report (PTeIR), the Council is fine-tuning an approach that will make it easier for landowners to harvest selectively in the Mattole’s second-growth forests. staff and board members of the Council have deliberated at length about the kind of timber harvest we would like to enable. Deciding what kind of logging we do support, rather than merely identifying the aspects of logging we oppose, is part of the “envisioning process” that Ali Freedlund describes above. In logging under these plans, landowners who choose to participate will commit to steer clear of streams and unstable terrain, forgo the use of herbicides, and be restricted to a minimal extent of new road as part of their logging operations. All old-growth trees will be off-limits, and tractor logging will be allowed only on gentle terrain. In exchange, we expect landowners will save roughly half the cost of the plan— typically thirty to forty thousand dollars for a regular THP. In this journey, we have had the help of a broad-based nine-member steering committee, a team of foresters from the Arcata firm BBw Associates, and regular consultation with local environmental activists and the five agencies that regulate timber harvest in California, to craft a template that could be used anywhere in the Mattole. For instance, in response to the Mattole’s geologic sensitivities, we developed a flow-chart that will help foresters identify sensitive areas that need special treatment or should be avoided altogether so as not to trigger landslides through logging or road construction. The flow-chart draws upon mapped insta4 • wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news bilities and visible indicators of sliding, such as scarps and jackstrawed trees, to help foresters spot problem areas and give them a wide berth. we believe these safeguards will ensure that logging under the auspices of the PTeIR will cause no significant harm to fish or other wildlife. In the coming months, our forestry team will test that belief with scientific data and analysis. If necessary, we will tighten the logging standards embodied in the PTeIR to prevent undue impacts from occurring. Throughout our analysis, we will be mindful that the alternative to PTeIR-style logging isn’t a landscape frozen in time. If lighttouch logging is infeasible, some landowners may find it impossible to make ends meet without subdividing their holdings; others may choose to log more intensively, using a regular THP. while the pace of the project may seem glacial at times, we believe that the months we’ve taken to blend the wisdom of those who’ve taken an interest in the project will prove to have been well spent. early this year, we expect to submit an administrative draft to CalFire. By summertime, we hope to have published the official draft environmental Impact Report—although the freeze in bond funding (see executive Director’s letter, page 2) may slow the process if it persists much beyond press time. nor will this be the end of the review for PTeIR harvests. Individual plans will still be reviewed and published before approval by CalFire, with an opportunity for the public to comment. The Council will be watching, too, to make sure that the plans filed under the PTeIR are a bona fide implementation of the plan’s intent. stay tuned to www.mattole.org/pteir for further updates.
“The alternative to PTeIR-style logging isn’t a landscape frozen in time.”
How Turbid is Murky? Mattole Turbidity study Aims to Find Out
By nathan Queener
Driving around the Mattole following a winter storm, it’s easy to see that some streams run muddy long after others have cleared up. Chronic turbidity—the length of time which streams remain cloudy after a rainfall event—varies naturally, and is influenced by a number of factors, including soils and geology, drainage size, and topography. studies in other watersheds in northern California have also shown that chronic turbidity can be very sensitive to changes in land use that influence erosion. This winter, the MRC is beginning a study to determine the degree to which sediment reduction work through the Good Roads, Clear Creeks program influences chronic turbidity in ten Petrolia area tributaries. Generally, only the smallest of sediment particles that a stream carries—clays and silts—are suspended in the water column. Larger particles, like gravels and cobbles that are moved by a stream in large flow events, generally roll or slide along the stream bed. sediment suspended in the water column is known as the “suspended load,” and the larger particles moving along the stream bed are called the “bedload.” If you’ve ever stood by a steep, frothing mountain stream running at flood stage you’ve probably heard the click and clatter of stones skipping along the bed of the creek. what you’re hearing is the sediment the stream is moving as bedload. If the creek also looks dirty and you can’t see into the water, it’s also carrying a substantial suspended sediment load. The vast majority of a stream’s total annual sediment load—consisting of both bedload and suspended sediment—is transported in just a few big storm events. Likewise, over a longer time span, the amount of sediment carried in one big storm year can dwarf the amount carried in decades. As an example, during a few days of the 1964 flood, the nearby Van Duzen River mobilized an amount of bedload equal to that which “normally” moves out of the basin in a century. The point is that sediment load varies exponentially with streamflow, and it takes a really big flow event to move much bedload. with a succession of relatively mild winters, there may not be any discernible change in a stream’s physical features such as pools, even if sediment sources are greatly diminished. Measuring pool depth or frequency as an indicator of watershed recovery can be foiled by mild winters—and by “legacy” sediments stored in the channel from past flood events or land use, and remobilized. suspended sediment—and therefore turbidity—is much more immediately responsive to changes in land use.
Hydrologist Randy Klein demonstrates turbidity sample collection in lower Mill Creek. Photo by Gary “Fish” Peterson Many turbidity studies have targeted sampling at the height of storms, trying to sample when stream flows and turbidity levels peak. This is not our intent—for one reason, these peaks are very hard to anticipate and capture without expensive automated sampling equipment (and, according to a source who has done this sampling, they always occur at three in the morning when the sampler has a bad cold). For another reason, the absolute highest turbidity value might not actually have much influence on fish—turbidity peaks often last no longer than an hour, and fish can often find a sheltered nook to wait out the worst of them. Instead, we will investigate the duration of high turbidity levels. Through the winter storm season we will take turbidity samples following large storms, measuring streamflow at the same time. since turbidity (and suspended sediment) can vary so much with the magnitude of the storm event, knowing how much water a stream is carrying at the time of taking the sample is essential. with sufficient samples, we can construct a turbidigraph, plotting turbidity as a function of streamflow. we are especially interested in the “lower-bound line” of the turbidigraph, a turbidity diagnostic developed by Arcata hydrologist Randy Klein. A lower-bound line with a steeper slope indicates that a stream maintains higher turbidity concentrations for a given flow. we chose study streams which are similar in drainage area, with varying degrees of sediment reduction work scheduled to occur upstream, including three control streams, where no sediment reduction work is scheduled to take place. we anticipate that turbidity levels in the “treatment” streams where sediment reduction work takes place this summer may be slightly higher the following year, but then drop significantly thereafter. Many thanks are due to the landowners whose gracious cooperation has allowed this study to move forward. In the last few decades, watershed restorationists, private landowners, and public agencies in northern California have embarked on an unprecedented effort to reduce the amount of sediment entering stream channels. Understandably, people want to know: are we seeing benefits from this work where it really counts – in improved instream habitat for salmon and steelhead? we hope this study will allow us to offer an informed answer to that question, and improve our understanding of the ways in which watershed restoration influences instream conditions.
“If fish can’t feed for days at a time during the winter, when they head out into the ocean they’re going to be skinny little runts, much more likely to die or be chomped by a hungry predator...”
so, what does this have to do with fish? even moderate levels of instream turbidity can interfere with juvenile salmonids’ ability to feed—it’s hard to catch a mayfly nymph when you can’t see it. If fish can’t feed, they don’t grow. If they can’t feed for days at a time during the winter, when they head out into the big wide ocean they’re going to be skinny little runts, much more likely to die or be chomped by a hungry predator. The size and condition in which juvenile salmonids leave fresh water may be as important, if not more important, to the number of adults that return than the sheer number of juveniles which head out into the ocean. Chronic turbidity in the wintertime can greatly impair juvenile salmonids’ ability to grow to a size which will increase their chances of survival in the ocean and their likelihood to return as adults.
wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news • 5
Lamprey For Dinner, Anyone?
By Flora Brain
while the others looked out at the ocean, Gary “Fish” Peterson’s gaze turned back towards the Mattole. His eyes sank to the sand berm, its wet portion recently exposed from the moments-ago opening of the river mouth. There near his feet he saw something alarming: a mass of wriggling, 6-inch long snakelike bodies, squirming out of the wet sand. “There must have been thousands, tens of thousands of them,” he recalls. what he saw down at the Mattole estuary on that fall day in the late 1980s were juvenile lampreys, some of the only remaining descendants of the most ancient vertebrate creatures on earth. LAMPREY ORIGINS Contrary to popular belief, lampreys are not eels. while our neighboring eel River was named for the presence of long, undulating aquatic creatures, those creatures thought to be eels were in fact lampreys. Lampreys lack jaws and paired fins, separating them from eels and other true fishes. Their genus name, Lampetra, comes from the Latin lambere, to suck, and petra, meaning stone, and refers to their sucking disc mouth parts. Lampreys descended from ostracoderms, the first known vertebrates. Ostracoderms were heavily armored with bony external plates, and lived by filter feeding on organic sediments found at the bottom of oceans, rivers, and lakes. The name ostracoderm translates to “bony skin,” yet it was something beneath their bony plates that paved the evolutionary way for modern fish and all other vertebrate life on this planet. says local Maureen Roche, “Oh, I like lamprey; they showed salmon the way!” Running down the length of the early ostracoderms’ body was a stiff, cartilaginous rod, the notochord. surrounding the notochord were small additional blocks of cartilage to which muscle groups attached. This arrangement of vertebral column with attaching muscle groups made possible the body movement that became the basis for modern fish swimming. The ostracoderms eventually gave rise to new fish groups that possessed jaws, the structures that combined with the vertebral column to set the stage for the evolution of land vertebrates. Ironically, the ostracoderms’ bony plates, which initially provided effective defense against invertebrate predators, were apparently unable to withstand the increasing strength and size of the evolving fish jaw. By the middle of the Devonian, around 375 million years ago, all but the lampreys and their solely marine cousins the hagfish were done for (McGinnis, 2006). Lampreys may have survived partially by one-upping their evolutionary competitors, the true fishes, with adult forms that are parasitic on soft-skinned fish. LIFE HISTORY In a single lamprey’s life, however, it is years before it may get the chance to attach its sucking disc mouth to a fish such as a salmon. Born in a freshwater nest similar to a salmon redd, lamprey larvae called ammocoetes (pronounced AMmo-seats) move downstream with the current until they reach a spot on the river bottom with fine sand, silt, and organic sediments. They then bury themselves tail first in the muck, with only their large oral hoods emerging. Here they remain, filter feeding on algae and organic matter while safely tucked away from the jaws of potential predators, for the majority of their long larval lives. Generally between five and seven years later, when the ammocoete has grown to roughly 6 inches in length, it undergoes a rapid metamorphosis before moving downstream to the sea to commence the parasitic chapter of its life. Most lamprey adults will spend up to two years at sea, feeding on large, soft-scaled fishes. After this time at sea, the adult lamprey will return to its freshwater home stream, and in so doing ceases to feed. Both sexes work together to excavate spawning nests by removing gravel with their sucking mouths. Maureen Roche claims to have seen a lamprey pair, bodies entwined, each one’s mouth sucking onto the same large rock, moving it together out of their spawning nest with their combined force! After spawning, the nest is covered with rocks loosened from the upstream side, and spawned lampreys generally die. some Pacific lamprey, however, may survive after spawning and make a second round-trip to the sea. Lamprey larvae hatch quickly from their eggs, from within about 10 days for western brook, to roughly 19 days for Pacific lamprey. within the forty-plus lamprey species worldwide, there are significant differences in life history strategies. Most notable among the species in the Mattole is the presence of one, the western brook lamprey, which is not anadromous, but instead remains in the river for the duration of its life. This nonparasitic lamprey spends two to four years in its filter-feeding larval stage, before metamorphosing in the fall prior to spawning early in the following spring. while western brook lamprey metamorphosis involves the formation of a sucking disc mouth like that of the parasitic lampreys, this mouth is never used for feeding.
“Both sexes work together to excavate spawning nests by removing gravel with their sucking mouths.”
“Lamprey for Dinner” - continued on page 12
Do you know about Petrolia’s
Library?
The MRC’s Community Resource Center in Petrolia has been providing Mattole residents with books, DVDs, aerial photos, maps, and tributary information since 1995. Visit us Monday-Thursday upstairs in the Community Center from 9am to 5pm, or check out our online database at mattole.org/librarydatabase.xls. If you would like an item that we do not currently own, please send an e-mail to lauren@mattole.org, as we are sometimes able to purchase new materials. For even more resources, visit our ever-updated website, www.mattole.org. Here you’ll find links to voluminous materials, and very soon we’ll be launching a redesigned website, so stay tuned! 6 • wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news
Independently-minded Mattolians Unite Over weed Control
By Mike Gordon
In the Mattole, where so much of the watershed is managed piece by piece on individual ownerships, there is no way to know what’s out there unless you ask. Recently, a number of stories have sounded an encouraging theme: that there are numerous independent stewards out there working to keep our lands healthy and free of weeds. INDEPENDENT INITIATIVE For example, one landowner on wilder Ridge has been quietly controlling a small patch of Malta star Thistle for the past 4 years. Malta star Thistle (Centaurea melitensis), a cousin of the infamous Yellow star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis), has similar spiny flower heads and prodigious seed production that allow it to dominate rangelands where it is accidentally introduced. Toxins in the stem and leaves give it a strong unpleasant flavor to cattle and can cause “chewing disease” in horses. Mattole rangelands and grasslands are a treasure in part because of the absence of star thistles, which have taken over at least 15 million acres throughout the state. A SPROUTING DETECTION FORCE This past year, knowing of only two other locations of star thistle in the watershed, MRC took a first stab at controlling the plant. Later last summer, an intern who’d been a part of that year’s nick’s Interns program discovered a patch of the thistle far out on spanish Flat while on an annual backpacking trip with Lost Coast Camp. while the discovery was disappointing in that it meant we had more acres of this weed than we realized, it was encouraging to see that education and outreach had helped grow our detection network. BEEF FOR BROOM Another landowner has been paying broom pullers with ground beef from cows that grazed in the very pasture being restored. These “broom-b-cues” have been enjoyable work parties that support the local barter economy and the cause of environmental restoration. we hope to sponsor more like them. CURIOSITY MOWED THE MEADOW At a different Petrolia ranch, one resident has made use of his tractor’s mower deck to eliminate acres of mature broom plants. He is undertaking a personal research project to find just the right combination of timed mowing, burning, and potentially grazing his pastures to control the daunting seedbank that had accumulated before he acquired the parcel. “A COMMUNITY THAT PULLS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER” In the middle of the valley, I see the broom along the fenceline that I watched get taller and taller over the turn of the seasons because we did not have money to take on any more new projects one day pulled and piled. And upstream, a rancher conducts a yearly pass over a river bank that has recently begun sprouting with broom seedlings, pulling them in common spirit. It seems that everywhere, land stewards—who may act quietly and alone—are uniting through the shared satisfaction of invasive weed control. And when people join forces without even realizing it, when a common goal brings unlikely parties together, there is cause for great hope. In this case, I am inspired and hopeful that the Mattole will stay wild and beautiful because we all take pride in keeping it so.
Landowner steward K.O.’s Cape Ivy
By Mike Gordon
sean James has lived in Petrolia for 6 years, helping native salmon and steelhead recover some of their former health and vigor as a biologist with the Mattole salmon Group. Having recently bought property on which to build his home, sean discovered a vine blanketing the ground and climbing aggressively into the canopy of several trees. The vine, Delairea odorata or Cape Ivy, is rated as one of the most aggressive invaders in California. It can smother plants on the ground and topple trees by adding extra weight in storms. Forests invaded by Cape Ivy, as well as english Ivy, over time become “ivy deserts” where few other species can survive. Though it provides extremely thorough groundcover, ivy can actually undermine bank stability because its roots are not as deep as the mature trees that it destroys. The foliage is moist and toxic, making it unburnable and ungrazable (goats will reluctantly eat it). Cape Ivy can resprout from fragments of stem or root left in contact with soil. sean showed me a bag of plant material he had pulled weeks earlier where a shoot had emerged and was beginning to creep away from its confines. As we looked at the black plastic trying in vain to quarantine the potent invasive plant, sean recalled how the site of the ivy patch had previously been used as a dump. Perhaps someone else out there had been battling their own patch of Cape Ivy and decided the extra couple miles to the county dump was just too far to go. As we considered this explanation of the ivy’s origins, there loomed an eerie feeling that another patch was out there in some unknown location… sean recognized that Cape Ivy is a bad thing for the salmon he works with (Cape Ivy contains toxic pyrrolidizine alkaloids which, above a certain concentration threshold, can kill fish), as well as for the view from his house. we would like to recognize sean in this newsletter for his vigilance and dedication to the health of the watershed. By catching this plant invader early, sean was able to keep his home site clean and also to spare his neighbors from a nasty weed. On behalf of all the beautiful parts of the watershed that remain undisturbed by invasive Ivy, THAnK YOU, seAn!
If you have Cape or English Ivy on your property, fall and winter are the best times to pull it out or at least cut the climbers to prevent it from setting seed. If you need help or have ANY questions, you can go to www.mattole.org/invasives_plants2/ species_of_concern.htm or call Mike at the MRC: 629-3514.
Photo by Mike Gordon
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A Year of Native Grassland Enhancement
by Hugh McGee
It all starts with:
Native Grass Seed Collection
MRC Native Plant Nursery Expansion and Future Projects
In the coming months, our native plant nursery will be expanding its operations by constructing another hoop house/shade house and increasing production to 25,000 native grass plugs of blue wildrye, California oniongrass, California oatgrass, junegrass, California fescue, Idaho fescue, leafy reed grass, and tufted hairgrass. These plugs will be planted in the fall of 2009 on grasslands enhancement sites on Paradise Ridge, Prosper Ridge, Johnny Jack Ridge, Spanish ridge, private lands, and invasive plant removal and riparian restoration sites throughout the watershed. The nursery will also be growing nearly 6,000 riparian trees, shrubs and grasses for riparian restoration e orts. The MRC will continue to collect seed from both grassland and riparian species for future revegetation projects. Last spring and summer, the native grasslands crew combed miles and miles of grasslands in the King Range to identify and collect seed from native grass populations. This past year the grasslands crew collected 53 pounds of native grass seed, for a total of nearly 80 pounds over the past two seasons. Seed was collected from Idaho fescue, California fescue, blue wildrye, California brome, leafy reedgrass, junegrass, tufted hairgrass, California oniongrass, California oatgrass, and big squirelltail. Some of this seed was planted on grassland and GRCC projects this fall, and the remainder will be used to start our next batch of native grasses at the MRC native plant nursery in Petrolia.
Native Grass Propagation
Over the past year, we raised approximately 12,000 native grass plugs of California brome, Idaho fescue, leafy reedgrass, junegrass, and tufted hairgrass. These plugs were planted on Prosper Ridge, Paradise Ridge, Spanish Flat, and on a private working lands site.
Working Lands Native Grassland Enhancement
In December, the MRC partnered with a local landowner to establish native grass patches on private land. A 1/10th of an acre site was burned, disked, seeded with blue wildrye and planted with 100 plugs of Idaho fescue. Not only will this create a local seed collection site for grasslands crews, but it will provide native grass straw for the landowner. The native straw will be used for agricultural purposes as well as local restoration projects. This site will be maintained and monitored by MRC staff and the landowner.
Paradise Ridge Fire Native Grass Rehabilitation
Last October, the native grasslands crew re-vegetated nearly 3 acres of bulldozer lines that were cut during the Paradise Fire this summer. With hopes of re-establishing native grass populations and stabilizing these bulldozer lines, we distributed over 100 pounds of blue wildrye and California brome and nearly 50 pounds of blue blossom and manzanita. All sites were raked, fertilized, and mulched. These sites will be monitored for survival and growth over the next couple of years.
Spanish Flat Fire Native Grass Rehab
Last November, seven daring native grass ends hiked into the Lost Coast to attempt to establish native grass populations on Spanish Flat. This area burned in the summer of 2007 and was seeded with blue wildrye and California brome in November of 2007. The area was planted with over 10,000 plugs of leafy reedgrass, junegrass, and tufted hairgrass. These sites will be monitored for survival and growth over the next couple of years.
Prosper Prairie Grassland Reclamation
Last fall, an MRC thinning crew removed nearly 3 acres of Douglas- r that was encroaching on Prosper Prairie. Sites were cleared of thinned materials and seeded with California brome and blue wildrye. One-yearold plugs of California brome and Idaho fescue were also planted on some sites. Some sites were mulched with native grass straw collected on site. These sites will be monitored for survival and growth and maintained by community members in the Prosper Ridge neighborhood.
Native Grasses Now Available For Order!
Blue wildrye: Elymus glaucus
A beautiful, blue-green perennial bunchgrass that is good for stabilizing slopes. Prefers full sun.
Idaho fescue: Festuca idahoensis
A small 7” to 12”, hardy and drought tolerant perennial bunchgrass.
Leafy reedgrass: Calamagrostis foliosa
A 2’ to 4’ tall, rare perennial bunchgrass is tolerant of re, drought and poor soils.
Tufted hairgrass: Dechampsia cespitosa
Tufted hairgrass grows about 1’ tall and is drought and re tolerant. Call the Mattole Restoration Council at 629-3514 or email monica@mattole.org with questions or to place an order. Minimum order of 98 plugs. 10% down payment is required.
If you are interested in volunteering on collection, propagation, or planting projects or if you are interested in planting native grasses on your land, please contact Hugh at 629-3514 or hugh@mattole.org. Thanks to the landowners, sta , and volunteers who participated in this project, and to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, Bella Vista Foundation, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for funding these projects.
8 • WINTER/SPRING 2009 • MATTOLE RESTORATION NEWS WINTER/SPRING 2009 • MATTOLE RESTORATION NEWS • 9
new Tools and Big Dreams - continued from page 1
the watershed and present the information in a visual format. In other words, it will help us understand where the sediment is coming from and where it is going, and help us see how fast it is moving across the entire watershed. Thanks to advances in computer and mapping technology, this once far-fetched idea could now be within reach. However, as one local expert advised, “a model is only as good as the input data.” Thus the important question: Do we know enough about the processes at work in the watershed to construct a model that will actually be useful to us? we’re not sure, but we think there’s a good chance that we do, and if the model does work, it will greatly increase the effectiveness of our efforts. It is my hope that the model will play a big role in prioritizing restoration projects and in future watershed planning. Let’s look at some specifics. It is commonly accepted that the estuary is full of sediment, but there is little consensus on how long it may take to flush out. The sediment model could help us make this estimation by analyzing and integrating three important factors: 1) How much sediment is currently in the estuary; 2) How fast is the river capable of moving sediment out of the estuary; and 3) How much sediment is coming into the estuary. These questions are difficult enough to answer alone, let alone when taken together. The mathematical powers of a computer become critical when one synthesizes these questions over a long time period and across the entire watershed. If we had even a general idea of the time frame and sediment volumes involved, we would be in a much better position to plan future work. specifically applying this idea to on-the-ground restoration techniques, the model could give us a ballpark figure for how much sediment would have to be taken out of the system per year to make a difference in estuary hydrology. If we are serious about healing the estuary, sediment extraction coupled with floodplain and streambank stabilization in the lower river could be the best hope. extensive research and planning will be required for any sediment extractions and bank stabilization because the energy and hydraulics of the lower Mattole are much more powerful than the forces at work in upstream tributaries. A few of the most critical questions will be: where should sediment extraction take place? How much sediment should be removed? And, where should the extracted material be placed? Local use of the extracted gravel and cobble for road upgrades—something the county has done in the past—is an especially interesting topic to explore in the coming years. This could possibly help offset the huge cost of importing rock and large wood for stabilization and habitat projects. Combining these lower river projects with continued sediment reduction work upriver could hasten the return of a hydrologically-functional river system. The model could help us predict how soon recovery would occur, depending on the rate of restoration activities and other factors. Throughout other regions of the watershed, the model could be coupled with other types of fish habitat data, including salmonid presence, large wood, summer flows, etc., to pinpoint areas where stream reaches have the highest potential for recovery. It could help prioritize treatment locations and predict how restoration projects will affect lower portions of the watershed over time. we will have a mechanism for gauging and monitoring channel recovery throughout the watershed and tracking those changes. Development of a working sediment model will enable us to present specific projects in a watershed and time-scale context. More importantly, it will further our own knowledge about watershed processes and help to prioritize future projects. specific efforts across the board will be necessary to restore historic salmonid runs, including projects to improve water conservation/ management and to offer viable forestry options that will alleviate the pressure of subdivision and development. As we broaden our interactions with the -powerful Mother nature, it is absolutely critical that we strive to further understand her inner workings. Only through increased knowledge can we continue to make educated restoration decisions.
Aerial views of the lower two and a half miles of the Mattole River, from February 15, 1942 (left), and March 31, 2000 (right). North is to the right, and the Pacific Ocean is at top of photos. Despite differing river levels, notice the change from 1942’s predominantly single-thread stream to braided channel in 2000. Notice also the migration of the lowest mile of river (left side of photos) from the South bank to the North, the subsequent colonization of willow and alder forest visible along the South bank, and the extensive revegetation apparent along the north bank of the furthest-upstream section of river (in the lower right area of photos). Photos courtesy MRC Archives
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Community Celebrates Restoration of the Mattole
By Andrew nash
On november 8th, 2008 the Mattole Restoration Council held its annual membership meeting, followed by a dinner party celebrating the longevity of local watershed restoration work. The event was held at the Mattole Grange and was a great success due to many contributions from the community. Particularly inspiring was the turnout: from founding fathers and mothers of the salmon restoration movement, from hippies to local ranchers with granddaughters in tow, from agency representatives to non-profit partners, to the impressive cadre of inspired twenty- and thirty-somethings running for the MRC Board, from people who’ve grown up in the Mattole to those just passing through, people came together to celebrate the multi-faceted work that’s been done on behalf of this watershed. executive Director Jeremy wheeler began the afternoon by welcoming about 50 community members to the MRC’s membership gathering in the main Grange Hall. MRC’s restoration programs were discussed, followed by candidates’ statements from the many nominees for the Board of Directors and a discussion of Council activities. The event then commemorated three decades of Freeman House kisses Bob Anderson during dinner. Photo: Kimi Feuer restoration work in the Mattole River watershed with a short new documentary called “Voices of Restoration.” The movie showed interviews with over a dozen local restorationists over the past 25 years, some of them preferring to be identified simply as residents. Hence the theme of the film: watershed restoration is a community effort that is best, if not only, accomplished through the participation of a wide segment of local society. Locals are the heart of this work.
“Locals are the heart of this work...”
And that’s where the magic was: in the participation of so many of the watershed’s community members. well-attended meetings and film screenings aside, it was in the human connections taking place in the dinner line, the laughter of the cooks in the kitchen, the sharing of food, the coming together of our community to talk and dance in the name of a shared dream, that the true success of the event resided. The evening really heated up with the danceable tunes of the local band Absynth Quintet. Lots of fun was had by all. new friends were made, old friends reacquainted and all celebrated the many years of restoration work in the Mattole with a hope for a healthy river and a thriving valley far into the future. Thank you to all the volunteers, donors, and local businesses who helped make this event a success. special thanks goes out to Judy nash and Tammy Picconi, who anchored the kitchen along with lots of other volunteers from the community and the MRC. Many thanks to both of them for their generous hard work; we could taste the love! “If I only had one wish, I’d plant a tree and save the fish. Then there would be a world for me when I turn twenty-three. Wishes make the world go round especially when they’re environmentally sound!” To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
“If I only had one wish” it would be to hear the kids sing that endearing song that the Petrolia K-3 class sang at the celebration together one more time. we can all agree there is nothing better than young voices celebrating 25 years of watershed restoration with glee. not only did we get some great singing, but also a few great poems that the Honeydew K-4 class contributed. It would never have happened without teachers like Margaret Fraser and John Goodrow who took the time out of the day to prompt the kids to express their love for the watershed. More big thanks go out to David simpson for writing the song, and to Jane Lapiner for choreographing. And we can’t forget to thank Tina deProspero for helping the kids with the beautiful painting they did for MRC. It is these experiences that will help our youth connect with their watershed, and no matter where this life takes them they will carry a little piece of the Mattole in their souls. Thank you to all who make this happen. -Jessica wygal
No fish remained in the Grange Hall kitchen nor dining room after this well-attended, celebratory, and delicious meal. Photo: Kimi Feuer wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news • 11
Lamprey for Dinner, Anyone? - continued from page 6
LAMPREY SPECIES IN THE MATTOLE According to the UC Davis Cooperative extension’s California Fish website, the Mattole River is home to three lamprey species: Pacific Lamprey, Lampetra tridentata, River Lamprey, Lampetra ayersi, and western Brook Lamprey, Lampetra richardsoni. Differentiation between these three is difficult at the juvenile stage, and even when they have reached adult form, positive identification can still be challenging. Pacific lampreys are the largest, with adults reaching up to 30 inches in length (yet dwarfs do exist within the species). when adult Pacific lampreys have just metamorphosed from juveniles to adults, they are silvery in color, turning to a dark greenish-black during spawning. River lampreys, A TANGLED WEB Like most living things in their native habitat, lamprey probably play important and complex interactive roles in their local environments. Research suggests that lamprey, in their heydays, may have been an important source of marine nutrients in nutrient-poor watersheds. what’s more, coho salmon have been found to eat emergent larval lamprey. Perhaps most fascinating is what else feeds on lamprey, or rather, what feeds on lamprey instead of eating salmon. Amid controversy over waterbird predation on salmon smolts in the Columbia River estuary, one researcher found that lamprey comprised 71% by volume of the diets of California, ringbill, and western gulls and Foster’s terns in the mainstem Columbia River during May (Merrell,1959). Lamprey was also found in the diets of northern pikeminnow and channel catfish in the mainstem snake River. why might these predators choose to dine on lamprey over, say, Chinook salmon? Consider now the adult fishes, and look at it from a sea lion’s point of view: lamprey, which never stray far from the mouth of their home river, are slower and easier to catch than salmon, and have remarkably higher fat content and caloric value. Research by Roffe and Mate (1984) has revealed that the most abundant dietary item in sea lions and seals was Pacific lamprey. nowadays, sea lion and seal predation on salmon may be heightened due to declines in lamprey populations. still, one wonders if all those sea lions hanging out at the mouth of the Mattole, whom we jealously curse for eating salmon, are actually feasting on lamprey.
whose adults reach up to about 12 inches (30 cm), are slightly larger that the western brook, whose adult forms may reach 18 cm. Both River and western brook lampreys have similar dark backs and lighter silver or white to yellow bellies. sean James of the Mattole salmon Group confirms the presence of Pacific lamprey in the Mattole, having caught adults larger than 12 inches every year from 2005 until the present in the MsG’s downstream migrant trap (set up to count down-migrating juvenile salmonids.) Gary “Fish” Peterson, who ran the trap from 1985 until 2003, saw and identified two western brook lampreys, in addition to the many usual Pacific lampreys, during his time on the trap. The presence of River lamprey in the Mattole could not be confirmed, though Peter Moyle reports that River lamprey appear to be regular spawners in salmon Creek and in tributaries to the lower Russian River, and he shows their range inclusive of the Mattole (Moyle, 2002). Maureen Roche, who regularly dives for the salmon Group to count juvenile salmonids, reports a drastic decrease in the occurrence of lamprey redds since she began in 1990. Today, she estimates that lamprey redds are just 15% of what she used to see. In the 2008 downstream migrant trap season, four adult lamprey were caught, along with 435 ammocoetes. It must be emphasized, however, that lamprey population data cannot be effectively assessed using salmonid-based monitoring techniques, due to differences in migration times and other lamprey behaviors (Moser, 2003). Thus we do not really know the status of our local lamprey species. REGIONAL DECLINE A decline in lamprey abundance in the Mattole would not be surprising, given ecoregional trends. The slowly-fading euroAmerican perception of lampreys as pests—due in large part to the well-publicized story of non-native lamprey being released in Lake Michigan and the associated disastrous results for lake trout —has possibly played a large part in the lack of lamprey research and lack of concern for their conservation—until recently. In 2002, a group of eleven conservation groups petitioned Us Fish and wildlife service to list Pacific, western Brook, and River Lampreys as Threatened or endangered. Two years later, UsFws determined a lack of evidence for listing, but then in 2007 started the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative. A great decline in abundance of Pacific Lamprey in the Columbia basin has also sparked concern among tribal members, who have traditionally used Pacific Lamprey as a culturally valuable food and medicine. Traditionally dried or roasted, lamprey meat is important in the diets of tribal peoples of the midColumbia plateau. Oil collected in the drying process is applied to skin or ailing body parts in conjunction with a purifying sweat bath. Lamprey oil was also historically used to condition hair and to cure ear aches (Close, 2002).
“A decline in lamprey abundance has sparked concern among tribal members, for whom lamprey is a culturally valuable food and medicine.”
Close, David. “ecological and Cultural Importance of a species at Risk of extinction, Pacific Lamprey”, Project no. 1994-02600, 9 electronic pages, (BPA Report DOe/BP-00005455-4). McGinnis, samuel M. 2006. Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley. 539 pp. Merrell, T.R. 1959. Gull food habits on the Columbia River. Fish Commission of Oregon Research Briefs (7)1:82. Moser, Mary, and David Close, “Assessing Pacific Lamprey status in the Columbia River Basin”, Project no. 194-02600, 10 electronic pages, (BPA Report DOe/BP00005455-5). Moyle, Peter B. Inland Fishes of California, Revised and expanded. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2002. Roffe, T.J., and B.R. Mate. 1984 Abundances and feeding habits of pinnipeds in the Rogue River, Oregon. Journal of wildlife Management 48(4):1262-1274.
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Dilemma
By C. Moss
“where’s all the water?!” “where’d the river go?!” september 25th. eight students from whale Gulch school, their teacher, and I were standing just below the one-lane bridge by Lost River, in the uppermost Mattole. we stood atop gravel that should have been under water, but looking upstream and down, all we saw was more exposed gravel and a few small disconnected pools, although calling them ‘puddles’ is more accurate. we’d come on a field trip to do photo point monitoring of the river during its low-flow season, and look for aquatic macroinvertebrate bioindicators. Once the kids saw the ‘disappeared river,’ however, the field trip’s entire focus changed. They snapped their photo points, took compass bearings, then charged as one mind onto the river’s exposed central channel, looking for puddles and pools and whatever living creatures were still alive in these pitiful refuges. “Hey! There’s still some fish in this pool!” one kid exclaimed. The other students tore over to the stagnating, 2-3 inch deep puddle and conferred. A larger black pool lay further upstream. Reconnoitering by a couple of students using crude measuring sticks confirmed that this larger pool was about three or more feet deep at its center. It was also the largest, albeit still disconnected pool on this stretch of the river. “we have to rescue these fish,” one student solemnly announced. stop! Hold on there! Rescuing the fish would have been illegal. we didn’t have permits. we didn’t have equipment. we weren’t properly trained. Fish rescuing was not something we could reasonably do. so what should we have done? what do concerned citizens do in situations like this? should we have called the game warden or a state agency like Department of Fish and Game? should we have set up a webCam to see if it was a heron, egret, snake or otter that would snag the last fish in those pools? There were threatened species in those puddles, with specific laws and mandates in place on behalf of the fish. what is the most important and/or right course of action? should people observe the letter of the law or the spirit of the law, knowing that moving fish would be illegal? Do we ‘let nature take its course’? what is the ‘natural course’ of the Mattole considering the cumulative effects of 100 years of strong human impact? Arguably, nature hasn’t had as much impact on the river and fish as humans and our roads, logging practices, and pump intakes sucking water during even the lowest-flow season. we were just one small group. Breaking the law and moving a handful of fish would have mainly been a symbolic action, and wouldn’t have made much difference in the river’s overall salmonid populations. The bigger-impact issues of drought, climate change, and ongoing human presence would still remain. so what would you have done?
BLM King Range national Conservation Area, whitethorn elementary school, and Mattole Restoration Council earn 2008 Hands on the Land Award for Community Collaboration!
Hands on the Land, a national network of field classrooms linking students, teachers, and parents to their public lands and waterways, gave its 2008 award to these organizations for Lost Coast Lifelab, an after-school program for 5th to 7th graders. This program connects teachers and students with the environment by allowing them to collect phytoplankton, analyze the samples and enter their findings into a national database. It has given the local community a renewed sense of responsibility to the environment.
what we saw In Late september
whale Gulch’s 4th-6th graders wrote the following responses after a september 25th field trip to the upper Mattole River, which was basically dried up at that point.
when I saw the river I was very shocked. I saw fish and all sorts of animals in small and dirty ponds of water. I remember when I first moved here and the river was full. But now there are only ponds on the river. --Jacob York, 5th grade River too low!!! sorry and sad and angry. Unfair for fish. Fish are sad and confused. --Isaac west, 4th grade shocked! Before my eyes was where a river used to flow with fish and their sparkly glow. now before me stands nothing more than a puddle filled with bugs, fish, and water. somebody help these fish before they die in the murky water! --Tyler Pietila, 6th grade A river. no one to help. Fish are dead. Gone. Confused. Unfortunate. --Israel Dellamas, 4th grade Today at the river we saw many horrible things. The river was low. The fish were in 2 inch deep and about 20 inches long water. It was a harrowing sight. --Dakota Cox, 5th grade The water is really low. I feel lots of fish are dying. There is one big pond. The fish are stranded in the little pond. --Aramis Andrews, 4th grade Today at the river, there was very, very low water that was separated into ponds. I feel sorry, sad, and depressed for the river and macroinvertebrates. --skyler strange, 6th grade Once we got to the river, there were a whole bunch of rocks and much water. There were lots of stuck fish in little puddles. we looked at the fish. They were very small in the pools, and we felt sorry for them. --Kayden Blair, 5th grade
Let us know what you would have done in the above circumstances - drop us a line.
submit a letter to the editor by emailing it to Flora@mattole.org or snail mailing it to MR news editor, PO Box 160, CA 95558. Letters should be 300 words or fewer, and include your full name and place of residence. we may edit for space and clarity.
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staff and Board Update
wetlands ecologist Joins MRC Board of Directors
After an election that saw nine candidates compete for five seats, all four incumbents running were re-elected, along with one new member. we welcome Cassie Pinnell to the 2009 MRC Board. Cassie brings extensive experience in wetlands conservation, and looks forward to focusing more of her attention on her home watershed. “In my work throughout the state I am yet to encounter a community that is as deeply committed and involved in preserving its ecologic systems as the Mattole community,” says Cassie. we welcome Cassie—and welcome back Sally French, Dave Kahan, Michele Palazzo, and Rob Yosha—to another productive year in the healing of the Mattole. Thank you to all who ran in this election and to all who voted.
Dedicated, Motivated schlepping: GIs Tech earns Certification
Steph Cepellos traveled to san Francisco for a total of 12 weekends this year to earn her Geographic Information system Certificate from san Francisco state University. why san Francisco? well, no other equivalent program is offered in Humboldt County for as reasonable a cost (yes, including transportation) and with the same weekend scheduling. For one semester, our techie had to take the bus to her weekend classes until she was able to purchase a car. And that came just in time for the second semester, which was a brutal, yet quick, 6 weeks of commuting every weekend. But all the schlepping paid off! she has already been able to start using many of her new skills to work smarter in furthering habitat restoration through mapping and spatial data analysis. Congrats, steph, and happy mapping!
Beloved Intern Takes the Helm at native Plant nursery!
Monica Scholey officially joined the MRC staff this winter, and is eager to continue working for the watershed as the native Plant nursery Manager. Monica’s interest in native plants began while exploring the forests, rivers and dunes of coastal Oregon where she grew up. Later she gained a deeper understanding of botany and native plant communities while studying environmental science at the University of Oregon. while in school, Monica explored the world of plants with elementary children as a field guide and eradicated invasive plants for the Lincoln County soil and water Conservation District. For the past two years in the Americorps watershed stewards Project, she worked on the Caspar Creek watershed study, raised native plants for Jughandle Farm and nature Center and propagated, collected and planted native plants in the Mattole. Monica has fallen in love with the Mattole and is excited to stay here and work towards the health of this incredible place. she has big dreams for the native plant nursery and would like to see it provide native grasses, trees and drought-tolerant plants to Petrolia’s residents, as well as supply the revegetation projects of the Mattole Restoration Council. In the spirit that spawned the restoration movement in the Mattole, she would like to involve as many community members as possible in the nursery. Already students from Mattole elementary and community volunteers have helped pot-up trees and shrubs and native bunchgrasses. when asked about the future of the nursery, Monica said “I think the nursery has a lot of potential. I also know that there are many knowledgeable people in this valley who have been growing native Mattole plants for years. The more involvement and input that I get from those people the better the nursery will be, so stop by anytime and see what’s growing.”
David Bloch comes to the Mattole after spending three of the last four years farming in Oregon’s willamette Valley. His year off was spent at Joshua Tree national Park, where he worked on desert restoration projects. Prior to that, Dave received a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. some of his interests include sustainable living and design, local food security, and exploring the woods. we welcome Dave on board as an Americorps intern.
MRC wishes Jen Hayes, our dedicated Americorps wsP intern of the last two years, a fond farewell – and are we ever glad she’s not going too far away! Congratulations to Jen as she takes on the job of Office Manager for our partner the Mattole salmon Group. For the last two years, Jen has made herself a valuable part of the MRC team, working on everything from ecological education projects with local students to grasslands restoration to redesigning our website. we are especially grateful for the professionalism, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness with which Jen approached her work. Read more about her experience in the Community Column. we love you, Jen!
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we welcome Lindsey Baris, who joins the MRC as an Americorps intern. Originally from st. Louis, MO, Lindsey spent the last 6 years in Olympia, wA attending the evergreen state College where she graduated with a B.s. in environmental studies. In washington, she found great interest in forest ecology and conservation as well as sustainable living and organic farming. After a trip to new Zealand to study alternative ways of living, she found herself living in and loving Petrolia. After already serving a one-year term of Americorps with the nature Conservancy in Olympia, she is ready to get back into the world of conservation with the MRC. 14 • wInTeR/sPRInG 2009 • MATTOLe ResTORATIOn news
Community Column Moving to Petrolia, and Coming Home
By Jen Hayes
Like many AmeriCorps watershed stewards Program interns who have passed through the valley, I first arrived in the Mattole to work with the Mattole Restoration Council. Coming from Arcata in the fall of 2006, I was so eager to get out of town and into the country. I wanted to work outside and come home to a cabin with a wood stove, outhouse, and life off the grid. I got what I asked for and more! My dream of living and working in Petrolia somehow felt like it was unique, and while being here, I’ve discovered that my arrival was the completion of a circle started long ago. At first, choosing to move to the Mattole was something I thought I wanted all on my own, as an autonomous young adult finding my own original future. It seemed a natural path to follow after graduating in natural Resources from Humboldt state and trying to find a rewarding job. For two years I worked as a wsP intern for the MRC and learned Leslyn Lyons at five years old, circa 1936, near Petrolia, on her way to hands-on watershed restoration. while working, I often forcatch some fry in the Mattole River. Photo courtesy of Leslyn Lyons. got about any family connection I have to the Mattole, and went on like most other interns do, working hard and absorbwe were walking over to the MRC office to show off where I had ing information. Over those two years, I slowly came to see that been working, she was reminiscing on this and stopped dead in there was so much more to my decision than my autonomous self her tracks, proclaiming, “This is it, I just know it is!” we confirmed had me believe. It wasn’t until I got involved in the Mattole Valley later that in fact Aunt Maud had lived right where the Mattole Historical society and began working closely with Laura Cooskey Valley Community Center is today, though her house has since that I realized the role my family had played in Petrolia and the burned down. she remembered coming to the house years after Mattole. it had burned, and found the back door lock amidst hundreds of My grandma, Leslyn Lyons, remembers coming out to eucalyptus tree sprouts. Petrolia when she was four or five years old. Her Mother, Alice now every time I walk past the eucalyptus trees and up Luella Crippen, was born in Petrolia, and traces her roots all the the stairs to the MRC office, I stop for a moment. not only have way back to some of first europeans to settle in the Mattole Valley, I come back to the town and valley where some of my family the Goffs and Crippens. she fondly remembers catching fry for settled, but I have come back to where they had last lived, right breakfast while visiting with her Aunt Maud. Aunt Maud Langdon where my grandma left off. was the post master and phone operator, roles she had inherited The Mattole has been an inspiring place to be a part of the from her father, Charles Goff. restoration movement. Getting to know those who helped start This past summer my grandma came to visit, with hopes up the movement in the Mattole, and working alongside those that we could do some historical digging and place some of her who are carrying it on, has offered me such a wealth of knowlmemories. with gracious help from Laura Cooskey, we were able edge. I am grateful to everyone involved. Having the opportunity to piece together a family tree and find locations of many original to work in places where my family has lived and worked gives me family homesteads. a sense of connection to the land greater than ever before, and My grandma fondly remembers sliding on a piece of cardprovokes in me a sense of wonder and awe. board down a hill to go visit her Aunt Maud at the Post Office. As
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Becoming a member of the MRC is one of the easiest ways to become a part of the Mattole restoration movement. Your membership dues are extremely important to us, allowing us to pursue important work that may otherwise fall through the cracks of our grants and contracts.
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* Subscription to our twice-yearly newsletter. * 20% discount on custom mapping services (applies to labor costs only). * Members who are also residents or landowners in the Mattole watershed are eligible to vote in our board elections. 5) Mattole watershed wares: (to see photos of these products, visit our website at www.mattole.org/watershed_wares/index.html) Thinking Like a watershed (VHs Video) $20 each Qty:____ Totem salmon (paperback) $15 each Qty:____ MRC Pint Glasses $ 5 each Qty: ____ MRC Aprons $20 each Qty:____ MRC T-shirts s M L XL XXL $15 each Qty: ____ MRC sweatshirts s M L XL XXL $25 each Qty: ____ Ribbed MRC tank tops s M L XL XXL $15 each Qty:____ Mattole watershed color relief map (11 x 17”) $ 5 each 6) Total amount enclosed (#3 + #4 + #5) $___________ 7) ____Please contact me about additional ways to give to the MRC, including donations of stock, property, and planned giving. Qty: ____ 1) I/we live or own property in the Mattole watershed: ___Yes ___no 2) This payment is for: __new Membership __Renewal __Just donating (skip to #4) 3) Please select membership level: __Individual $25 __Family $40 (two votes) __Low Income $15 4) __Yes! I would like to make an additional tax-deductible donation. Amount $_______
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Mattole salmon Group news Ladies and Gentlemen, we Are now in The Red
By Kate Cenci
“How did things get so bad out there?” he asked. I didn’t know where to begin. I was back in snowy, bitterly cold northern Michigan discussing current issues with my dad, an always interesting and entertaining conversation. He of course was referring to the salmon “situation” in California, which happens to be the focal point of my current work. so I tried as best I could to explain to Dad a very complicated subject. I told him of the intensive logging practices of the 1950s and ‘60s, the steep slopes of ever-eroding mountains in an area naturally prone to earthquakes and landslides, and mentioned a couple of hundred-year floods, just for fun. It sounded terrible, like a battle that can’t be won. Add to all of that the terrifying reality of global warming, population expansion, and the negative human impacts that affect once-pristine rivers, like the Mattole, and it almost seems too late. Almost. salmon are a remarkable fish. I, as well as others in the scientific restoration field, believe they can flourish if given the opportunity. Take Butte Creek, a tributary to the sacramento River, for example. The creek experiences spring-run Chinook salmon, and in 1987, there were a mere 14 returning adults. In stark contrast, over the past ten years, Butte Creek has seen an average of 10,000 returning adults. This increase is mostly due to major restoration endeavors (over $30 million worth) since the early 1990s that have included the removal of several small dams and efforts to increase water flow. while we face different obstacles and conditions here on the Mattole, Butte Creek can most importantly be used as an example of how, given the opportunity, salmon can run the home stretch – or more appropriately, swim the final lap – and thrive as a sustainable population. so...what’s different here? what’s keeping coho, Chinook, and steelhead from thriving in our Mattole waters? The two things we know are sediment and temperature. we got our name on the board with those – the Mattole River is listed as a 303(d) water body by the California state water Resources Control Board (a division of the CA environmental Protection Agency). This is not a good name-on-the-board; basically that’s a few letters and a number that mean, according to the Clean water Act, that the Mattole is polluted. Here’s the million-dollar question: when and where, specifically, do sediment and temperature have the most effects on salmonid species in the Mattole? In the restoration industry, we call these parameters “limiting factors” to salmon recovery. These limiting factors could hold the key to the door of sustainable salmon runs. The task of determining these factors isn’t so easy, partly because there is much that still remains a mystery when it comes to salmon. The Mattole, however, may be ahead of the game when compared to other northern California rivers. The Mattole salmon Group (MsG) has been intensively monitoring salmon distribution for nearly three decades. Currently, the MsG is taking steps to become one of a few watersheds in the state focused on complete life-cycle monitoring, setting the Mattole up as a “Life Cycle Monitoring watershed.” This will help us discover more about the salmon species in the Mattole, and what, when, and where they are most impacted by current conditions. As I said before, sometimes it feels like a losing battle. while both Chinook and coho are classified as “Threatened,” and in danger of extinction, by the Federal Government, Chinook are faring slightly better than coho in the Mattole, but the threat of losing both species all together is very real and very urgent. To borrow some jargon from the Feds that we will surely all understand, we are now in “the red” – the threat is imminent. To get the Mattole back into the green, or at least the yellow or orange, the MsG is continuing its salmonid population monitoring programs, water quality monitoring programs, and instream habitat enhancement efforts (i.e. large-wood structures). Also in the works is further developing a Coho Recovery strategy, which will include Federal recommendations for focus areas and restoration efforts. The national Marine Fisheries service (a division of the national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is also currently drafting recovery plans for Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, in addition to coho, for the Mattole watershed. These plans will map out the necessary steps to saving these species and facilitating the return of sustainable populations. we’ve all heard the saying, “As goes California, so goes the nation.” If there is any truth to this adage, then we are at a very crucial tipping point. we can do nothing (or almost worse, not enough), and lose species by the dozens, lose old growth, lose water, lose water quality, lose the very habitat in which we all live, and watch the nation follow suit. Or we can act locally to better our environment – which also betters the human condition. we have an opportunity to make the Mattole a prototype for how a naturally functioning watershed can be, eventually being a model for the rest of California to follow, and we all know, “As goes California...” This doesn’t only just involve the Mattole salmon Group or other restoration groups in the watershed, but it involves all of us as people, as citizens, caretakers, and stewards of the land in which we live. we each have the ability to make efforts, great and small, to preserve and improve our natural world.
“Chinook are faring slightly better than coho in the Mattole, but the threat of losing both species altogether is very real and very urgent...”
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