CalTrout On Salmon Strongholds Initiative Project For California Project
As West Coast salmon runs are struggling from California to Alaska, California Trout announced some federal help today in the form of support for salmon restoration necessities in California and other areas.
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration recognized CalTrout and our CA Salmon and Steelhead Coalition partners, The Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited, for our coalition’s Northern California Salmon Restoration Initiative. The initiative was selected as one of ten projects from across the nation to be highlighted during Climate Week,” CalTrout said in a press release.
Here’s more from CalTrout:
Recognition for the Initiative comes as California salmon fishing communities have faced unprecedented challenges due to the back-to-back closures of the 2023 and 2024 ocean salmon seasons. The announcement underscores the project’s role in restoring salmon and steelhead habitats, building climate resilience, and improving water security on California’s North Coast. To view the White House’s announcement, click HERE. Check out a StoryMap showcasing the initiative HERE.
The effort, proposed by the California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition with support from the California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, and other partners, is aimed at increasing the pace and scale of habitat restoration in key watersheds along California’s North Coast – a region of crucial importance to populations of native salmon and steelhead trout.
The Strongholds initiative addresses several priorities in Governor Newsom’s California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter Drier Future and improves the health of the watersheds that North Coast communities rely on.
“California’s North Coast presents an opportunity to restore some of the best salmon habitat in the country,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham. “This Initiative would accelerate our Department’s North Coast Salmon Project by removing instream barriers, reconnecting wetlands and floodplains, and implementing better water management practices that increase summer streamflow and can create a model for climate resilient watersheds.”
