news & information center

Newsletter Excerpt

Fisheries Restoration Efforts to Focus on the Upper Mid Klamath Subbasin

The Mid-Klamath Subbasin comprises a major section of the Klamath River mainstem and associated tributaries and upslope habitats utilized by adult and outmigrating fish between the Trinity River confluence and Iron Gate Dam. The Mid-Klamath River serves as the pathway for all Klamath River fish once they pass upstream of the Trinity River to return to their natal streams, including the Salmon, Scott and Shasta River, along with the Iron Gate fish hatchery. Equally important, it serves as a migration and rearing corridor for all juvenile anadromous fish above the Trinity River confluence. Mid-Klamath Subbasin tributaries, in particular those in the lower portion of the subbasin, provide a significant source of high quality water to the impaired Klamath River.

The upper portion of the subbasin, tentatively from Seiad Creek up to Iron Gate Dam, has been identified as an area of concern for salmonids. The mainstem of the Klamath River in this section is impacted by high summer and fall water temperatures, poor water quality, fish diseases, and other factors that mitigate benefits of fisheries restoration in upper Mid-Klamath tributaries, as well as the Scott and Shasta Subbasins.

In order for the upper portion of the Mid-Klamath River Subbasin to catch up to other subbasins with regards to fisheries restoration efforts, more focus on this area is needed. Currently, there are several groups coordinating fisheries restoration projects with individual landowners, on national forest lands, industrial timber lands, as well as intensive mainstem and refugial fisheries monitoring efforts. These groups include the Karuk Tribe, the US Forest Service, California Department of Fish and Game, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Shasta Valley Resource Conservation District, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Yurok Tribe, Fruit Growers Supply, Timber Products, and individual landowners. However, there is no one group coordinating community-based fisheries restoration in this portion of the Mid Klamath Subbasin.

In order for fisheries restoration efforts to be successful in the upper portion of the Mid-Klamath Subbasin, work is needed on several fronts simultaneously. On public lands, the US Forest Service needs assistance identifying, planning and implementing projects with shrinking budgets and management staff. Forest Service data from existing Watershed Analyses and similar documents, once integrated into the Mid-Klamath Subbasin Fisheries Resource Recovery Plan (Plan), will also be invaluable in the identification and ranking of restoration priorities. On private lands, Fruit Growers Supply and Timber Products are routinely planning and implementing fisheries restoration projects as part of their timber harvest program. Coordination of their efforts within a given tributary with other restoration activities may provide added fisheries benefits.

Because of the diversity in land ownership, the geographic extent, and the current lack of a single entity that can plan and implement fisheries restoration across the entire upper Mid-Klamath Subbasin, a partnership between public lands managers, private lands managers, and fisheries interests is needed to adequately address initial planning needs for this subbasin. To this end, the Klamath Basin Fisheries Task Force has provided grant funding to establish a watershed council in the Upper Mid Klamath with the purpose of bringing diverse groups together around fisheries and watershed restoration in this new subbasin.

Beginning in 2006, the Mid Klamath Subbasin Planner will work with interested persons living in the Upper Mid Klamath to provide resources for the formation of a watershed council that addresses the needs and concerns of Upper Mid Klamath stakeholders in regards to fisheries restoration. This may include working with individual landowners, industry, Fire Safe Council’s, and other stakeholder groups on project identification and development, grantwriting, organizational support, skills transfer, and meeting facilitation. If you are interested in participating in this effort, please call Will Harling at (530) 469-3216, or email me at: .