Posted on 11/02/2008 3:51:41 PM PST by nickcarraway
Jennifer Carah is a scientist who doesn't normally squeal, especially not when she is under water, but a recent snorkeling expedition in an obscure creek on the North Coast caused her to abandon all scholarly protocol.
"Yeeeee heeeeee," she shrieked through her snorkel upon spotting a mass of little fish behind a rock in Pardaloe Creek, a remote tributary of the Garcia River, in the heavily logged forests of Mendocino County.
The critters that elicited the squeal were endangered coho salmon. In fact, juvenile coho were found in 10 places where they had not been seen in years in the 72,000 acre Garcia River watershed.
"I was pretty excited to find them there," said Carah, a field scientist for the Nature Conservancy. "We've checked the data of other agencies and haven't heard accounts of coho being up there before. These sightings have generated a whole lot of enthusiasm, especially given the fact that coho are pretty much on the brink of extinction."
The discovery of coho in the headwaters of the Garcia River is especially eye-opening because the watershed once was destroyed by logging. Now it is part of a unique experiment that involves what conservationists call sustainable forestry, or selective logging.
"As we all know, parks are struggling to manage the lands they already own, and local governments, particularly in rural counties, don't like to see big swaths of private land put into parks because it takes it off the tax roles and takes the land out of public use," said Chris Kelly, the California program director for the Virginia-based Conservation Fund, which paid the timber company Coastal Forestlands $18 million in 2004 for the 23,780-acre Garcia River Forest. "Why not own it and manage it as a productive forest and use the timber to pay for the restoration
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Well lets go snaggin !!
“Coho salmon fry discovered up a remote creek”
A salmon fry is good, but grilling them is better.
droooollll...fried coho salmon mmmmmmmmmmmm!
Yep , agree !!
Perhaps if she spent less time face down in a creek wearing a wetsuit...
Hey! Some folks are into that!
Whatever trips your flippers. :) People do stranger things out West.
Grilled salmon with a lemon dill sauce.... and a glass of Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc..yummmmm
I had some with a mango salsa here in Portland, OR. Very tasty.
Smoked salmon for me! Mmmm!
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