by Alistair Bleifuss

Funds for labor and some materials have been provided by NEAP. Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District is supervising the work, along with a general overview from the California Department of Fish and Game and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Rex Foundation has provided additional funding, administered through the Bodega Land Trust, to cover the cost of revegetation materials, tools and technical advice.

Habitat restoration has focused on preserving the existing vegetation and establishing new plantings. These efforts benefit the fish by stabilizing the streambanks, maintaining a lower water temperature, providing shelter against predators, and attracting sources of food.

Log jams that accumulated during flood flows have knocked down trees and diverted the force of the water into the banks, causing erosion. The log jams high on the banks have been removed. Tree trunks and other large pieces of woody debris which offer the young fish cover and protection have been left alone or moved into more strategic positions and anchored in place. Alders,Bays, and Willows will be planted along the creek to hold the bank together and shield the fingerlings from predatory birds. Further plantings in pastures bordering the creek will widen the wooded riparian zone, while exclusionary fencing will keep livestock out of the creek bed.

Employing fishermen/women has utilized their knowledge of fish and the field training they received during an earlier restoration project on Walker Creek. The fish and other beings which dwell in Salmon Creek thank them.

The Federal Northwest Emergency Assistance Program (NEAP), is providing funding for labor and some materials to repair badly damaged banks and to redirect the creek flow at two creekside properties in Bodega, the Dennis Albini Ranch and the Cassidy/Bleifuss homestead. Although storms have delayed much of the work, it is well underway, and these labor-intensive projects will be carried out as the weather clears.

The project is intended to provide temporary employment to commercial salmon fishermen who have been put out of work by federal fishing-area closures. The habitat restoration will not only benefit the spawning steelhead, salmon and their fry, but will put more fish in offshore fisheries (for the fisherfolk), and assist local citizens with the expense and labor of repairing badly damaged creekbanks.

Colin Close, project coordinator, is working with local folk in watershed communities. She seeks to understand landowner perspectives and strives for "a marriage between a healthy environment and healthy economy." Colin claims that funding is still available for some small projects. If you have a project that needs assistance, you can submit a grant application. Call Colin Close, (707)836-0585.