helpfish@watershedstewards.com
My First Carcass Survey
Submitted by Pam Lauer
It was a breezy October morning, when about ten people met at the Cecilville community center to do another carcass survey. Everyone who met that morning had been on surveys for weeks and most people for years, everyone except me. In order to make sure I got what I bargained for I headed out with two of the local Salmon River experts and prepared to see very little.
Spring Chinook numbers have been gradually declining for years and with all the dams on the Klamath River, I was not expecting to see anything. But, to my surprise, after a few “false redds” we came upon seven or eight Spring Chinook in one pool tail out! The ladies were making there redds, their tails mangled and white, while a few males battled it out in the riffle crest. There were even two jacks (juvenile males) trying to get in on the action. We sat on shore on the South Fork of the Salmon and watched, transfixed by the beauty in watching a salmon start a whole new cycle of life. We took some video footage and discussed how amazing it is that all the hard work these anadromous giants have put into their lives was culminating into that very moment. It was really a special day. Later in the reach I also saw the first adult salmon carcass I have ever seen in my life. It was a little foul, but she was pretty fresh. It was awesome to see her teeth and her battered scales up close. That was definitely one of those days that you just don’t forget.
Just me and a rotting carcass hanging out on the Salmon River as the sun beat down on a cool October afternoon. Thank you WSP!
Riffle has Two 'F's
Submitted by Karen Gardner
Since I joined WSP four months ago, I have become very close friends with some of the other members. We work together, doing watershed assessment, outreach, and education. Most of us have spent the better part of the last several months doing field work that involves habitat typing, assessing what kind of habitat a particular section of a stream creates for salmonids. For example, along with roughly 20 other habitat types, we are all becoming very familiar with scour pools (deep pools that salmonids like to hide in), cascades (steep sets of waterfalls and pools, where lots of oxygen is transferred into the water), and riffles (fast-moving shallow areas where salmonids spawn and deposit their eggs).
The WSP members that I work with are dedicated to their jobs and also to their friends. During our off-time, a group of us often spend time together having potluck dinners, or more recently, playing Scrabble on Tuesdays. Last week during our Scrabble night, Florie, a WSP member, played the word “rifle.” The rest of us thought that the word didn’t look quite right, and several of us said simultaneously, “That’s not how you spell riffle!” Florie reminded us that she had meant “rifle” and not “riffle.” We all laughed for probably a whole minute. It was a great WSP moment.
The Chillin' Coho
Submitted by Amaria Crocoll
It was a bright sunny, winter day. There was snow on the ground, and I was putting my cold, wet waders on once again. Today I would be walking along Beaver Creek in Siskiyou County with my field partner and boyfriend Jeff, to look for winter spawning coho salmon. We were all dressed and set off down our given reach of the creek. The water here was crystal clear, fresh and cold. The colors of the rocks in the stream beamed through the turbulent water overhead.
Searching and looking closely in the water led to no sightings of the elucent and endangered coho. The coho had not been seen in this creek in years. The early winter flows, however, had connected the creek to the river in an unprecedented event. There was hope that some coho had found these past dry spawning grounds and had ventured into new territory to hatch their offspring.
After two miles of walking, Jeff and I had not seen a single fish, let alone a coho salmon. We decided to take a break and eat our lunch in a sunlit bank off of the creek with tall oaks lining the background. Our conversation led to questioning where have the coho gone? Should we keep going or move on to another creek today? I felt we should just wait a little longer today here at Beaver Creek. We had seen a possible redd, or spawning nest for salmon, dug out downstream from where we were. I felt there must be a fish here somewhere!
I was speaking to Jeff and said, "Of course there are fish here. We just have to wait!" I turned around then to look at the creek as I was packing back up my lunch, and what to my wondering eyes should appear... but one coho salmon, floating down river!
There it was! Just chillin' out one foot in front of us two lucky field aides.
The Quiet Mountan Lion
Submitted by Sarah Ganas
This story took place at Redwood Elementary where Kate Proctor and I taught a second grade class for six weeks. We decided to give plant or animal nature names for all the students so we could remember their names. We also dubbed ourselves Sarah Salmon and Kate Katydid so they could remember us.
There was one boy named Mauricio Mountain Lion who was always very quiet and timid. His score on the pre-test was almost zero, and he seemed from the start to be somewhat disinterested in what we were doing. We both thought that he didn’t speak very much English since he hardly ever spoke, and he seemed to have a hard time with some directions.
On the last day we played a sort of tag game to review everything they learned. When I asked the question: “What is a salmons’ nest called?” Mauricio’s hand shot up, and with a glimmer in his eye replied: “A redd!” It was one of the few times I had heard his voice. He also spoke in front of the class and said that he really enjoyed the games we played.
When we got the post-tests back, I was astonished to see that he had scored nearly 100 percent! It made me realize that I had greatly underestimated how much he had learned from our teachings, and what kind of impact we have made on his young mind.
The Hollow Orientation
Submitted by Erin Triolo
Eighteen new members journeyed from around the country to join WSP in our January Orientation. January is a particularly rainy season in Northern California, which confined our training to the cafeteria and recreation rooms of the training facility. Members were extremely excited to meet one another and learn about the program; however after several days of learning about policies, procedures, and paperwork, they grew anxious and restless. Members were eager to get to their placement sites and get out into the field. As the forth day of training approached, the clouds broke and the sun peeked through just in time for our field trip to Hollow Tree Creek.
When we arrived at Hollow Creek, we expected to see in-stream structures creating potential habitat for fish. However, what we experienced went way beyond the scope of our imaginations. Sitting in the midst of the project reach 50 adult Coho salmon swam over, using the created habitat to spawn. New members were fortunate to witness the rare site of spawning Coho; their backs shinning red in the sunlight. The group fell silent and stared in awe. One member whispered to me, “Now I see what we are doing and what it’s all about!”
Back to top
