Opinions, musings, ideas, pearls of wisdom
What Is Our Conservation Budget Doing?
By Dougald Scott
What Is Our Conservation Budget Doing?
By Dougald Scott
For the past several years our club has budgeted $2,500 to donate to conservation organizations whose efforts help improve fish habitat and the environment. In April, Conservation Chairman Bruce Dau met with interested club members and came up with a list of recommended organizations to receive funds. The Board approved the list and it was published in the June newsletter. What follows is a more detailed description of the organizations and their activities we are supporting, and the amount we donated to each.
Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project. $500
The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the restoration, conservation, and enhancement of native wild silver (Coho) salmon and steelhead populations and their coastal and marine habitats from San Mateo to the south Monterey Bay area. The Project is also dedicated to the enhancement of the King (Chinook) salmon population in the Monterey Bay waters. MBS&TP President Larry Wolf, reported that they released 53,000 juvenile San Lorenzo River steelhead (hatchery spawned and reared offspring of wild San Lorenzo steelhead) into the San Lorenzo watershed this spring. They also released 3,770 Scott Creek juvenile steelhead into that watershed. The Project also rears king salmon in net pens in the Santa Cruz and Moss Landing Harbors. Last year they released more than 240,000 juvenile king salmon into Monterey Bay.
Coastal Watershed Council. $500
CWC plays a critical role in the central coast of California by providing watershed monitoring and educational programs focusing on salmonid streams. CWC has managed eight watershed monitoring programs involving more than 100 volunteers and providing watershed monitoring on over 70 miles of streams. These programs operate in the counties of Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Monterey. The data collected by the monitoring programs is used by local resource agencies to identify limiting factors with regard to salmonid habitat and recovery, and riparian conservation priorities. The CWC has also developed education and outreach materials concerning endangered aquatic species including salmon and steelhead, migrating songbirds, and amphibians.
California Trout. $300
California Trout's mission is to protect and restore wild trout, native steelhead and the waters they inhabit throughout California, and to create high quality angling opportunities for the public to enjoy. Although great fishing has been restored, protected, or made possible by much of CalTrout's work, it is not a fishing club or organization. Quality angling is an outcome of their primary focus: to improve the health of the state's watersheds, rivers and lakes. Bottom line, CalTrout is a water company. They keep the water flowing and keep the resource healthy through their participatory work in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) dam relicensing process, protecting the public trust, reforming grazing on public lands, expanding the wild trout program, and recovering decimated steelhead populations statewide.
Orvis Golden Trout Project. $300
For its 2004 conservation project, Orvis teamed with California Trout (CalTrout) and Trout Unlimited of California (TU) to help protect and restore the native California golden trout in the Golden Trout Wilderness of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Donations made to the Golden Trout Project were matched by Orvis and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, so that our $300 donation resulted in $900 going toward the project.
Mono Lake Committee. $200
The Mono Lake Committee is a non-profit citizen's group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin Ecosystem; educating the public about Mono Lake and the impacts on the environment of excessive water use; and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas. Since 1978, the Mono Lake Committee has fought to protect Mono Lake from excessive water diversions to Los Angeles. Through litigation, legislation, cooperation, and most importantly, public support, their efforts have been successful in restoring fisheries in several eastern Sierra streams and in halting the decline of the Mono Lake ecosystem.
Friends of the River. $200
Friends of the River was founded in 1973 during the struggle to save the Stanislaus River from New Melones Dam. Following that campaign, the organization grew to become California's statewide river conservation group. Friends of the River is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and restoring California's rivers, streams, and their watersheds. The organization accomplishes its mission by providing public education, citizen activist training and organizing, and expert advocacy to influence public policy decisions on land, water, and energy management issues.
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. $200
CSPA is an alliance of sport fishing groups seeking administrative and legal remedies to restore degraded fisheries and guard against threats to those that are still in good shape. CSPA effectively stands before the State and Regional Water Boards, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). These are the agencies that set standards for stream flow and water quality. No other sport fishing group maintains a steady presence before these important bodies. CSPA is the agency watch dog, demanding compliance with environmental regulations and proper stewardship of public trust assets.
American Rivers. $100
American Rivers is a national non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy natural rivers and the variety of life they sustain for people, fish, and wildlife. In addition to protecting nationally significant rivers, American Rivers' programs focus on dam removal and reform (including a campaign to remove four federal dams on the lower Snake River); river channel engineering (including campaigns to reform Army Corps of Engineers and protect floodplains); allocation of water resources; and threats to watersheds (including wild rivers, those affected by agricultural practices, and community riverfronts). Along with their conservation efforts, they promote public awareness about why healthy rivers matter--not only for fish and wildlife, kayakers, canoeists, and anglers, but for our own communities.
Trout Unlimited. $100
Trout UnlimitedŐs mission is to conserve, protect and restore North AmericaŐs trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. TU accomplishes this mission on local, state and national levels with an extensive and dedicated volunteer network. TUŐs national office, based just outside of Washington, D.C., and its regional offices employ professionals who testify before Congress, publish a quarterly magazine, intervene in federal legal proceedings, and work with the organizationŐs 125,000 volunteers in 500 chapters nationwide to keep them active and involved in conservation issues.
Sempervirens Fund. $100
The purpose of Sempervirens Fund is to preserve and protect the natural character of California's Santa Cruz Mountains and to encourage appropriate public enjoyment of this environment. Together with the State of California, the Sempervirens Fund has identified thousands of acres of unprotected lands within the proposed expansion boundaries of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Butano State Park, Castle Rock State Park and Portola Redwood State Park. As they are able to acquire these lands, they transfer them to the parks system for public recreational access and permanent stewardship.
I think we can all be proud of our club's contribution to the conservation effort. Many thanks to Bruce Dau and his committee for wisely distributing our contribution among local, state and national organizations whose strategies reflect a multifaceted approach to conservation and the enhancement of our sport. We are doing our part!