July 6, 2006
ETNA — Members of the Wildlife Conservation Board,
California Dept. of Fish and Game, Siskiyou Resource Conservation District and
local farmers and ranchers were on hand to dedicate 32 fish screens on the
Scott River on June 14.
The event was held at the John Spencer Ranch in Etna where the French Creek
tributary enters the Scott River.
The newly installed screens are intended to protect thousands of juvenile coho
and Chinook salmon who routinely find a way to stay in the river and
irrigation ditches in the area, rather than making their way back to the
ocean.
The project included the installation of headgates,
diversion improvements and fish screens on property belonging to 20 landowners
along the Scott River.
Local ranchers hope that the installation of the screens will resolve ongoing
conflicts between the agriculture community and the needs of threatened or
endangered fish.
Estimated cost of the project was in excess of $560,000 and was funded by the
Wildlife Conservation Board.
Thus far, the program has been responsible for the
installation of more than 50 screens and the Department of Fish and Game has
added another 30 screens to the system.
More than 20 years ago, Scott Valley farmers began conservation efforts on
their own property in an effort to enhance riparian areas and improve
in-stream structures to prevent fish passage.
The first screen was installed in 2002 as a supplement to ongoing efforts by
the California Dept. of Fish and Game to protect salmon that travel through
the Klamath Basin.
The long term cost statewide for completion of recovery
efforts for California salmon has been estimated at in excess of $5 billion,
including $466 million earmarked for the Scott and Shasta River watersheds in
Siskiyou county. .
Siskiyou County farmers and ranches in the Scott River watershed are being
praised for their long term stewardship on their own land, even though more
action remains necessary in the future to complete the project.
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Source:
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2006/07/06/news