FISHING
Q&A WITH USFWS DIRECTOR AURELIA SKIPWITH ON CALIFORNIA SALMON, WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT By Chris Cocoles
U
.S. Fish and Wildlife director Aurelia Skipwith recently toured one of California’s most critical federal facilities, the Coleman National Fish Hatchery. The hatchery stop was part of a busy day during Skipwith’s visit to California. “It’s been fantastic,” she says of her Golden State stopover, which also included meeting with land trust organizations “working hard to conserve beautiful landscapes that allow hunting and fishing.” Skipwith is part of a presidential administration that has come under fire at a time when many conservationists and environmentalists are skeptical about the federal government’s concerns for such issues. She says that USFWS, President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt are committed to and focused on “providing outdoor recreation, which is a part of our American heritage … and we’re delivering.” She also discussed wildfire management with multiple state and federal agencies in the wake of a devastating 2020 of statewide blazes. Skipwith is the first Black director of the USFWS and one of a handful of women who have held the post first served by Ira Noel Gabrielson in 1940. We chatted with her about the trailblazer she’s become, plus the role Coleman Hatchery can play at a time when California’s king salmon runs on the Sacramento River and its main tributaries have endured a devastating drought
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith talks with Brett Galyean, project leader for the Coleman National Fish Hatchery during Skipwith’s visit to the facility in Anderson, south of Redding. (USFWS) calsportsmanmag.com | NOVEMBER 2020 California Sportsman
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