Conservation Conversation

Conservation onversation

With Julie Ruth Haselden

Bristol Bay 1/21/2021

Yesterday, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. When he was Vice President, Obama’s EPA used the Clean Water Act to initiate protections for Bristol Bay. It’s time to pick up where they left off.

This past summer, President Biden said that Bristol Bay was no place for a mine. He promised to ensure Bristol Bay was protected. With the inauguration ceremony behind us, it’s time for the we look forward to encouraging the Biden administration to follow through on their word and stand up for Bristol Bay.

Join us in encouraging the new administration to protect Bristol Bay!

Bristol Bay must remain at the top of his priority list and your voice is critical to ensure these protections remain a priority. Only through this work can we ensure that Alaska Native communities and tens of thousands of jobs are protected. From Mark Rockwell - NCCFI

Klamath Dam Removal Projects

“Below is a list of a few of the many articles circulating on the new Klamath MOA signed recently, ensuring great progress to remove 4 dams on the historic Klamath River. These can be used to craft articles to inform your membership of this accomplishment. NCCFFI has been the fly fishing community representative in this process for the past nearly 18 years, including work on this recent agreement.”

• Capitol Weekly. Capitol Weekly Podcast:

Craig Tucker on Klamath dam agreement – November 22, 2020 • The Willits News. Governors announce agreement to advance historic salmon restoration plan – November 23, 2020 • Popular Resistance. Indigenous Peoples’ victory: largest dam removal in the world –

November 23, 2020 • ValueWalk. Proposed Klamath River dams removal: the height of obtuse thinking?

November 24, 2020 • California Trout. Klamath Dams Q&A webinar – November 24, 2020 • Fishing Wire. Dam Removal on Klamath

River Will Restore Salmon Waters –

November 24, 2020 • Adventure Journal. The Biggest Dam

Removal Project in American History is

Back on Track – November 25, 2020 • California Department of Fish andWildlife - Award of 10.7 Million for Fisheries

Program Projects.

From the Wild Salmon Center 2020: Silver Linings for Salmon Conservation

It’s been a tough year for communities around the North Pacific. Covid-19. Economic hardship. Record-breaking wildfires. Yet in a painful year, you helped deliver major salmon conservation milestones. The list includes halting Pebble Mine in Alaska, a historic deal for Oregon forests, new momentum to remove four Klamath River dams and prevent a Chehalis dam, and growth for grassroots salmon groups in Russia. More than ever, we’re humbled and inspired by the strength and support of the Wild Salmon Center community.

The Key in the Code

On Oregon’s Rogue River, DNA detectives take on salmon shapeshifters, strange science, and a 15-million-year-old mystery. That’s all in Part III of our ongoing spring Chinook series First Salmon, Last Chance. (New to the series? Catch up with Part I: The Urgency of the Moment and Part II: If the Dams Fall.) Study in BioScience Spotlights Indigenous Salmon Practices

The study—from WSC Salmon Watershed Scientist Dr. Will Atlas and a team of Indigenous leaders and conservation scientists—finds that Indigenous fishing practices and governance models can help revitalize struggling North Pacific salmon fisheries. New Temporary Rules for Washington Steelheaders

This month, WDFW took important and necessary steps to address escapement goals that again won’t be met on many of its steelhead rivers. The new angling restrictions follow advocacy and conservation efforts by coastal Tribes and groups including WSC.

KeepEmWet Becomes Non-Profit, Changes Name to “Keep Fish Wet”

We’ve always been massive fans of the #KeepEmWet movement, promoting proper fish handling regardless of the season. The movement kicked off simply as a reminder to keep fish wet or in the water for as much time as possible before release. They have rebranded as “Keep Fish Wet”, now a nonprofit, to further increase the impact they’re

Keep Fish Wet helps anglers improve the outcome for each fish they release. Science shows that when anglers make small changes in how they catch, handle, and release a fish it can create better outcomes for fish. Not only does using best practices increase survival rates of fish, but it also helps fish return to their normal behavior and physiology as quickly as possible after release.

Every time you catch a fish, you have an opportunity to practice one-on-one conservation. You don’t need to buy any special gear, you don’t need radically change how you fish, you just need to follow three simple principles — minimize air exposure, eliminate contact with dry surfaces, and reduce handling time.

GPFF Members Clean Up!

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Black History Month, GPFF members Mike Leong, Bob Fabini and Julie Haselden offered their efforts in service for our communities. We collected and hauled off trash. You are welcome to offer your time and efforts to pick up trash in your neighborhoods and in our watershed through the rest of the year. If it is on the ground or in water, it will make its way to foul our creeks, bays, and oceans, affecting wildlife habitats and our fisheries.

A TAIL OF TWO WORLDS! “I often wonder what it’s truly like to live underwater in these pristine mountain habitats. Not so it would help me catch more fish but so I would know these magnificent colored creatures. I find my underwater photography helps me see this world from their perspective, if only for a glimpse. This fine rainbow lives somewhere on the McCloud River.” ~ Roger Wachtler

WHO LOVES WATER MORE? “Cattle dogs have many talents but are not necessarily know for their love of water. But my dog Etta has no greater joy than everything that is water; pools, oceans, hoses or rivers. Must have been a fly fisher I guess in another life. I am training her to hunt trout for me. This image was part of our off the grid trip to the North Umpqua River Oregon last summer. This is truly a place of volcanic wonder.” ~ Roger Wachtler