In this in-depth article by Jessica Zimmer, published on SPAWN, you’ll learn how staff, volunteers, interns and partners are restoring floodplains, installing innovative woody debris structures, working with landowners and navigating the complex social and regulatory challenges of conservation. From Lagunitas Creek to Redwood Creek in Muir Woods, the story highlights why habitat restoration is essential for one of the last strongholds of Central California Coast coho salmon – and how local action can shape the future of an endangered species!
“SPAWN began work in 1997. Every year, it engages in research and monitoring, habitat restoration, assisting local landowners, training volunteers, and acquiring land critical to assisting coho salmon. SPAWN also conducts creek walk tours, removes trash, and recreates lost floodplains and native riparian forests. It accomplishes this all within Marin County. Sometimes teams work close to neighborhoods. Other times they work in wild areas along the coast of West Marin…
NoahLani Litwinsella, an associate attorney in the Denver office of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, volunteered for SPAWN as a child. Today, he calls California’s salmon population a treasure. ‘As the salmon contend with changing anthropogenic environmental conditions, habitat restoration can have a significant impact. Creating more favorable conditions for juvenile salmon is an efficient way to support the population for generations to come,’ said Litwinsella…
This winter, as in winters past, SPAWN is conducting spawning surveys. Spawning occurs during the rainy months, usually peaking in January. SPAWN will conduct out-migration surveys of juveniles (smolts) in the spring. That is when smolts migrate out to the ocean. ‘The primary limiting factor for the recovery of coho salmon in this area is the lack of refuge habitat for juveniles in winter. Impermeable surfaces increase velocity, erode, and incise creek banks. [This threatens] juvenile survival during winter storm events,’ said Todd Steiner, Founder and Special Projects.”
