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Diverse Coalition Negotiating Historic Venture to Reintroduce Salmon to Sierra
Spring-run chinook salmon could return to their historic spawning habitat on the North Yuba River under a still-developing agreement involving three agencies and three conservation groups. Working together as the “Yuba Salmon Partnership Initiative,” the coalition released a framework for such an agreement.
When completed, the agreement would create a first-ever “collect and transport” program in California, like those successfully used for decades in Oregon and Washington to move salmon around dams too tall for fish ladders. The program would return spring-run chinook salmon, and possibly steelhead, to more than 30 miles of the North Yuba River. Deep, cool pools on this stretch of the river provide ideal habitat for the species that summers in mountain streams before spawning in the fall. In addition, the agreement would create a program to enhance salmon and steelhead habitat in the lower Yuba River downstream of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Englebright Dam.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service, Yuba County Water Agency, American Rivers, Trout Unlimited and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance released a “Term Sheet” that will guide negotiations on a binding settlement agreement that would form the basis of salmon reintroduction and restoration programs. The non-binding Term Sheet defines principles for funding and fiscal responsibility, agrees to some limits on potential actions, and anticipates how the partners will seek to address numerous legal and regulatory requirements essential for the reintroduction to happen. In signing the Term Sheet, the partners commit to negotiating a more detailed and binding settlement agreement that they hope to complete by next year. They also commit to the use of a transparent, science-based process that offers opportunities for public input and response in developing the specifics of the anticipated programs.
“This initiative is an ambitious undertaking to restore spring-run chinook and steelhead to miles of historic pristine habitat in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” said Charlton H. Bonham, CDFW Director. “This long-term experiment has been successful in several Pacific Northwest states and we hope for a similar outcome in California. A project of this importance wouldn’t be possible without a robust partnership, and considering the state’s unprecedented drought, it couldn’t be happening at a more crucial time for these fish.”
The Yuba Salmon Partnership Initiative seeks to accomplish a major goal set forth in Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s California Water Action Plan. This five-year plan, released in January 2014, spells out actions needed to restore California’s key ecosystems, and bring greater resiliency and reliability to its water resources. Directives in the plan include establishing fish passage around “rim” dams in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that block historic salmon and steelhead habitat.
Director Bonham added, “Collaboration with Sierra County and other stakeholders will be important for us to ensure this program recognizes their needs.”
The salmon reintroduction program, if implemented as envisioned in the Term Sheet, would return salmon to spawning habitat in the North Yuba River using specially designed collection facilities and trucks. This would allow adult fish to bypass two dams northeast of Marysville: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Englebright Dam, built in 1941 to trap debris generated by hydraulic mining, and YCWA’s New Bullards Bar Dam, built further upstream in 1970 to provide flood protection, water supply and power generation. The program would move juvenile salmon downstream in the winter and spring by gathering them in collection facilities above New Bullards Bar Dam and trucking them downstream past the dams to resume their journey to the Pacific Ocean. The reintroduction effort would focus first on spring-run Chinook salmon. If successful, a steelhead reintroduction could follow. Providing fish access to historical habitat is also a climate-change adaptation strategy.
“Reintroducing spring-run chinook to their historic habitat above dams on the Yuba River has been discussed for decades,” said Will Stelle, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Regional Administrator. “Now this diverse coalition has reached agreement on the key terms to launch a successful program. We have a lot of work still ahead of us, and we will need to stay focused, given the urgency of getting these imperiled salmon back into their native habitat. The YSPI represents a major step forward, and we’re excited to help make it happen.”
The Term Sheet also envisions a program to analyze, prioritize and implement habitat actions in the Lower Yuba River downstream of Englebright Dam. These actions are likely to include improvement of riparian vegetation, measures to restore salmon spawning habitat and measures to improve rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids, including the expansion of side channel and floodplain areas to promote rapid growth of young salmon before they migrate to the ocean.
“Reuniting salmon with their historic habitat into the North Yuba River through a collaborative, voluntary initiative is a worthwhile endeavor that we believe will ultimately benefit our environment, the people of Yuba County and all of California,” said John Nicoletti, Chairman of the YCWA Board of Directors.
YCWA has agreed to pay up to $100 million of total project costs, which are estimated at $400-$500 million, over the 50-year life of the program. The Term Sheet defines additional commitments by the partners. These include support for various regulatory approvals that the project will require; evaluation of North Yuba River habitat suitability; evaluating collection and transport facilities; development of biological and habitat goals and objectives; and development of an adaptive management plan so that the program can be adjusted based on monitoring results.
The project promises to yield a wealth of scientific information that may aid other reintroduction efforts, other ecosystems and fisheries science overall. Once implemented, it would test whether “collect and transport” programs can contribute to the recovery of Central Valley salmon populations as they have contributed to the recovery of salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.
JD: It’s so encouraging to see a collaborative effort made to enhance the spring chinook numbers in Northern California. These fish have been through a lot and a little help from local groups is a huge step in the right direction.
Steller Sea Lion Dies in Freak Accident
A Steller sea lion died when it became entangled between two traps at Bonneville Dam.
There were no witnesses to the incident, which occurred sometime Monday night. Biologists believe the animal crawled out between the two cage traps onto a narrow area where the wooden floors of each trap extended beyond the cages, coming together to create a makeshift platform. It appears that as the animal tried to back out of the narrow area, it became entangled in the tethering cables holding the traps together. Once entangled, it appears the sea lion flipped over to reach the water, but couldn’t break free of the cables. A veterinarian on site determined the animal drowned and complete a necropsy on the animal will be performed.
“This is a very unfortunate incident, no one would have predicted this could happen,” said Rick Hargrave, ODFW spokesman. “Our focus now is to prevent this from happening again.”
Trapping operations at Bonneville Dam have been suspended while ODFW consults with NOAA. In the meantime, cage trap doors will be closed and locked, and a temporary barricade will be installed between the two cage traps to prevent access.
JD: There’s so many sea lions where they shouldn’t be they’ve actually started killing themselves! Forgive me for not giving a crap about a dead sea lion that should have been killed anyway.
Nonlead Ammunition Requirement Approaches
Starting July 1, 2015, nonlead ammunition will be required when hunting on all California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) lands and for all Nelson bighorn sheep hunts anywhere in the state.
CDFW reminds hunters who plan to hunt bighorn sheep or at any CDFW wildlife areas or ecological reserves where hunting is allowed on or after July 1, 2015 to acquire nonlead ammunition well ahead of their hunt. Hunters are also encouraged to practice shooting nonlead ammunition to make sure firearms are sighted-in properly and shoot accurately with nonlead ammunition. Please note nonlead ammunition for some firearm calibers may be in short supply and hunters should plan accordingly.
CDFW held 14 public meetings in 12 cities from Eureka to San Diego to gain comments from hunters on how best to implement AB 711, the legislation that requires nonlead ammunition for all hunting statewide by July 1, 2019. The department listened to feedback from hunters and proposed an implementation plan that would be least disruptive to the hunting community while adhering to the requirements of the law. The California Fish and Game Commission recently adopted the implementation plan.
Further phase-out of lead ammunition for hunting in California will occur on July 1, 2016, when hunters must use nonlead ammunition when hunting with shotguns for upland game birds (except for dove, quail and snipe), small game mammals, fur-bearing mammals, and non-game birds except for when hunting at licensed game-bird clubs. Nonlead ammunition will also be required when taking wildlife for depredation purposes anywhere in the state. Starting on July 1, 2019 hunters must use nonlead ammunition when taking any animal anywhere in the state for any purpose.
Lead ammunition may still be used for all non-hunting purposes, including target shooting. The implementation of AB 711 does not affect the laws regarding the existing nonlead “Condor Zone” where it remains illegal to hunt using lead ammunition.
Hunting is not allowed at all CDFW wildlife areas and ecological reserves. For those areas where hunting is allowed, nonlead ammunition will be required starting July 1, 2015. Hunters are reminded to be familiar with all hunting regulations before going into the field.
JD: It doesn’t take much foresight to see how this ban on lead for hunting can and will set a precedence for more bans on lead for fishing in the very near future. If you haven’t looked into alternative fishing weights like Stoney River Sinkers or Dave’s Tangle Free weights you’re not prepared.