It's been several months since our last newsletter and a lot has happened in that time. This month I want to take a moment to let you know a bit of what has been happening over the past few months.
First of all our webmaster, Dustin Rocksvold has redesigned and launched a new website for Sac-Sierra TU. If you haven't been there in a while it's worth checking out at www.sac-sierratu.org. We will be updating the website regularly with information on conservation related issues, projects and events.
In June of this year Trout Unlimited hosted the first TU Fish Camp for kids. The three day event was held at the Sagehen Creek field station outside of Truckee. Lisa and Ralph Cutter and Dave Lass, the Northern California field coordinator for TU were the instructors for the camp. 15 kids age 11- 15 participated and had the opportunity to learn about stream biology, bug sampling, fly casting, knots and stream restoration. On the third day volunteers from Truckee River TU, Reno Sagebrush TU and Sac-Sierra TU helped the kids tie flies and then guided them for a day of fishing on Sagehen creek. Fortunately the fish were willing to play and most of the campers hooked and landed fish. Plans are already underway to expand the camp for the summer of 2013.
Preservation Proposed for Rivers in Eastern Sierra and Southern California
Thanks to the support of Friends of the River members, and the years of dogged work by a strong coalition of conservation groups, a bipartisan bill has been introduced by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) into the Senate and House of Representatives.
The "Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act" seeks to protect more than 52 miles of Wild & Scenic rivers and nearly 476,000 acres of Wilderness, including some of the most spectacular scenery in the West.
Please click here to read the entire press release that outlines the bill. We'll need your help in the near future as the bill progresses to make sure it gets the support it needs. But today is a day to celebrate another great step forward for California rivers and wilderness!
UPDATE – On August 6th, Govenor Schwarzenegger sign SB 670 into law, placing an immediate moratorium on suction dredging until the California Department of Fish and Game develops and implements new suction dredge regulations that protect fisheries and water quality. Sac-Sierra Trout Unlimted would like to thank everyone who helped make this happen.
Breaking News from The Sierra Fund
July 14, 2009
SACRAMENTO – New protections for California’s people and environment are now only a signature away. Yesterday the State Senate joined the State Assembly in overwhelmingly passing SB 670 (Wiggins), a measure that will place a moratorium on the practice of a form of recreational gold mining known as suction dredging, with a bipartisan vote of 31-8. SB 670 easily garnered the two-thirds vote in both houses of the State Legislature needed to send it to the Governor as a piece of “urgency” legislation which means it will go into effect immediately upon his signature.
Seaching for a real fish story: UCD grad student tracks the deltas largemouth bass
By Barry Eberling
McNaughton Newspapers
FAIRFIELD Anna Stephenson is catching largemouth bass in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, cutting a short incision on their underside, placing a black tracking device inside their peritoneal cavity and releasing them back to the water.
Then she and other researchers will know when the eight or so fish with electronic devices leave shallow water for deep water. They'll know how the fish move about during the year.
And maybe they'll discover clues to the plunge in the numbers of native fish such as the delta smelt, which largemouth bass eat.
Water userʼs contention hatchery fish are adequate substitute rejected
October 27, 2008
Fresno, CA -- A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an attempt by California irrigators and logging industry groups to strip protected status from five populations of wild steelhead trout. Today's ruling rejects two separate challenges to steelhead protection in California . In the first case, anti-environment group Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents loggers and water users, argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service must make Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decisions based simply on the numbers of hatchery steelhead produced each year. PLF asked the court to remove five separate populations of steelhead from the list of endangered species based on the presence of hatchery fish. In the second case, a group of Central Valley irrigators argued that ocean-going Central Valley steelhead population should be removed from the endangered species list based on their opinion that freshwater resident rainbow trout might someday replace extinct steelhead populations.
Read more: Federal Court Upholds Protection For California's Steelhead