Save Yuba Salmon - South Yuba River Citizens League, Nevada City, California, USA

Latest News

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Posted, Thursday May 1, 2008

Yuba River Restoration a Key Solution to Salmon Crisis

April 18, 2008 For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Jason Rainey, SYRCL Executive Director, 530 265-5961, ext. 207; jason@syrcl.org
Gary Reedy, SYRCL River Scientist, 530 265-5961, ext. 208
Christopher Sproul, Environmental Advocates: 415 533-3376

Yuba River Restoration a Key Solution to Salmon Crisis

As West Coast states begin to grapple with the extent of the environmental and economic crisis of collapsing Chinook salmon runs, SYRCL has issued a call for the federal government to aggressively pursue the removal or alteration of a dam on the lower Yuba River that interferes with the endangered salmon's spawning run.

The Yuba River has one of the last self-sustaining run of wild Chinook salmon in California's Central Valley, and it may be a critical part of this species' survival.

SYRCL Executive Director, Jason Rainey, states: "Daguerre Point Dam is a proven fish-killer, plain and simple. And yet for years the federal government has dragged its feet and delayed doing anything about it. We hope this crisis at last prompts action from Washington."

Referring to Governor Schwarzenegger's emergency request for federal assistance for commercial fishing, Rainey continues, "The Governor is appropriately asking the federal government for relief for the fishing industry. Yet, where have the feds been while local citizens have clamored for sensible measures that might actually recover California's salmon populations? Calls for leadership from the Corps of Engineers to protect and recover salmon have fallen on deaf ears."

SYRCL has been working for over a decade to protect and restore one of the last wild, self-sustaining runs of Chinook Salmon, with the Yuba River representing the only major tributary to the San Francisco Bay with wild (non-hatchery) populations of spring-run, fall-run, and late fall-run Chinook, as well as Steelhead Trout and Green Sturgeon.

The Army Corps of Engineers operates two federal dams-Daguerre Point Dam and Englebright Dam--that no longer serve their original purpose (to capture new hydraulic mining sediment), have caused human fatalities, operate at a financial loss to the taxpayers that own them, and are well-documented as structures that kill salmon and/or block their migration to preferred ancestral habitat.

Gary Reedy, SYRCL's Fishery Biologist states, "Salmon require habitat in the form of abundant clean water. They also need access upstream and downstream. Recovering salmon will require major actions to control water pollution, limit water diversions and provide access to habitats currently inaccessible due to dams."

SYRCL has worked collaboratively with our partners to address the need for abundant cold water habitat through the Fisheries Agreement of the Yuba Accord, which successfully reached conclusion last month with an order from the State Water Resources Control Board after nearly two decades of litigation and negotiation. Reedy serves on the River Management Team of the Yuba Accord, representing the citizen groups that signed the Fisheries Agreement.

Referring to a March 2007 visit to Washington DC to meet with Senator Feinstein and officials with the Army Corps of Engineers, Rainey states, "Despite our efforts in Washington, we couldn't compel Congress or the Corps to even conduct the first phase study of fish passage at a 102-year old dam that the feds acknowledge is a death trap for the Yuba's uniquely wild and imperiled salmon."

In November 2007, Congress overturned the President's veto and passed the Water Resources Development Act. SYRCL's formal request of Senator Feinstein for a $100,000 authorization to the Corps of Engineers for a feasibility study on Fish Passage at Daguerre Point Dam was not included in the ~$23,000,000,000 package that authorized over 900 Corps of Engineers projects.

SYRCL, joined by Friends of the River, has been pursuing relief from the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Yuba County Water Agency since 2006 for those agencies' role in impacting the Yuba's salmon, steelhead and sturgeon that are "threatened" with extinction, and which therefore require protections and a recovery plan under federal law.

"The federal attorneys have been stalling through procedural maneuvering. My clients are anxious to get to the substantive issues in this case, and so too, I'm sure, are the wild Yuba Salmon whose existence hangs in the balance," says Christopher Sproul, the lead attorney for SYRCL and FOR.

SYRCL's call comes as experts acknowledge a collapse in the West Coast's Chinook salmon populations, prompting the following actions:

Pacific Fisheries Management Council decision on April 10th to adopt a complete closure of commercial and sport Chinook fisheries off California and most of Oregon;
The subsequent action by Governor Swartzennegger to declare a state of emergency, request federal relief for the commercial salmon industry, and also sign a bill by state Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) to fund $5.3 million in restoration projects for salmon and steelhead;
The decision on April 14th by the California Department of Fish and Game to close salmon fishing in California's coastal waters;
And the federal court decision by Judge Oliver Wanger on April 15th to dismiss the Biological Opinion governing impacts to salmon and steelhead at the federal and state water pumps in the Delta, SYRCL issues the following statement.

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Posted, Thursday March 6, 2008

SYRCL to Highlight Yuba Salmon at 25th Annual Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference

The Salmonid Restoration Federation holds its annual conference in Lodi this weekend, March 5-8th. The SRF Conference brings together fisheries agencies, watershed groups and salmon restoration practitioners throughout the state. SYRCL fisheries biologist and RiverScience program director, Gary Reedy, will present Friday on the topic “Yuba River Salmon: Status and Challenges.” SYRCL Executive Director Jason Rainey will chair a Saturday session on “Engaging Watershed Communities in Salmonid Restoration.” SYRCL will be bringing information and tools from the foremost experts in salmon recovery and restoration to apply to our Save Yuba Salmon campaign and to share with members of the Calling Back the Salmon group. More info at www.calsalmon.org.

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Posted, Thursday March 6, 2008

COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN, ANGLERS, TRIBAL NATIONS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE FISH RECOVERY ACTIONS

For Immediate Release: March 1, 2008

“The Crisis and Recovery Strategies for Salmon”
Press Conference Will Call For Immediate Action

WHAT:
A panel of fishing, tribal and environmental groups will discuss the current state of the Delta fisheries and the recent unprecedented collapse of the Central Valley salmon runs. The group is proposing immediate, practical, and necessary measures that will begin to rebuild the stocks of salmon.

WHERE:
Double Tree Hotel, Sacramento
Del Paso Room
2001 Point West Way
Site of the Pacific Fishery Management Council Meeting

WHEN:
Friday March 14, 2008 at 1000 AM.

Information:
Local - Jason Rainey - 530.065.5961 x 207

SPEAKERS:
John Beuttler or Bill Jennings, Calif. Sportfishing Protection Alliance
Zeke Grader, Pacific, PCFFA
Ron Reed, Karuk Tribe
Coleen Sisk-Franco, Winnemen Wintu Tribe
Dick Pool, Pro-Troll Fishing Products
Others to be announced...