THEEDITOR’SNOTE
The San Joaquin River, which rolls across the northern edge of Fresno, has seen better days. But there is hope that restoration efforts can bring back more salmon to the state’s third longest stream. (CHRIS COCOLES)
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mong the cities I’ve visited, the ones characterized by their famous rivers usually have impacted my experiences. I’ve sipped top-notch Czech beers overlooking Prague’s Vltava and ate a waterfront lunch hard on Belgrade’s blue Danube. Stateside, some of the best barbecue and fried chicken I’ve ever indulged in were near the shore of the mighty Mississippi in Memphis and St. Louis, respectively. My connection with the Central Valley city of Fresno – for seven years my home as I went to college at Fresno State and started my professional career here as well – always attracted me to the San Joaquin River. It’s California’s third longest at 366 miles, running from the Sierra southeast of Yosemite down to where it forms the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and eventually enters Suisun Bay. My memories of the river included trips to Lost Lake Recreation Area, located just below Friant Dam and Millerton Lake, for lazy fishing days in my college years and then a hike with my dog years later when I came back to visit. But that dam is one of many factors why the once salmon-filled San Joaquin is a shell of its former self. It’s estimated that in the late 19th century, the river’s spring Chinook runs were well over half a million strong. But Friant Dam and other manmade projects further west and north wiped out the fish. After a 2013-14 reintroduction of kings in the San Joaquin, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported 23 adults returned to the river in 2019. Baby steps. As the process of restoring a thriving run of threatened spring-run Chinook continues, I was humbled by Brandon Honig’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service story (page 17) about a Merced County ranch family’s land donation for new fish passage that will help migrating salmon get around Sack Dam and continue their journey from the sea. The fish face long odds still, particularly in drought conditions and the state’s ongoing water wars. But for a fan of the San Joaquin who got nostalgic while recently checking out its stretch through Fresno, you gotta have hope during a most difficult time for everyone. -Chris Cocoles calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2021 California Sportsman
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