Conservation News
May Conservation Committee Report
Submitted by Jim Tolonen
May Conservation Committee Report
Submitted by Jim Tolonen
April 13, the MBST hatchery took another hit from mother nature. A large Alder tree fell onto Pool 3, cracking the side and damaging the pool very badly. the shade cloth was ripped down and the support beam over the hatchery was broken and leaning into the pool. With the help from 3 brave NOAA employees, Carla was able to rescue the ~ 2357 Scott Creek Steelhead out of the pool and transfer them to pool 2. They are scheduled to be planted out on Friday. Nobody was hurt in the incident. Just a reminder that trees can fall at any time and we need to continue to be very careful while working at the hatchery!
The STEP program steelhead eggs have been delivered to the classrooms, and eggs are starting to hatch. Over 90 classes are raising steelhead fry to be released into the local watershed in the coming months.
The Conservation Committee has prepared a proposal for our donations this year that the Board will review at its next meeting.
In general, the recommendation is to add a little more to our top three local recipients, (where we also do volunteer work), keep the remaining smaller ones the same as last year, and add one new organization. More information next month after the Board reviews the proposal.
Volunteers Needed
The Coastal Watershed Council is gearing up for several new monitoring activities this spring and summer, and are looking for volunteers and donations for Live Oak, Aptos, and Carneros Creek Monitoring. They are also sponsoring a monthly Environmental Film Series, shown in Capitola. Check out their web site at www.coastal-watershed.org or contact Debie, (who spoke at our club last year) at djchirco@coastalws.org for more information. Let her know you are from SCFF, as they love people with waders!