Author

Sam Davidson

  • Restoration

    New plan aims to recover native salmon and steelhead in California, reflects TU restoration and policy priorities

    It’s been tough going for salmon and steelhead in California for basically the last century. Dams, diversions, pollution, and habitat loss have hammered many populations to the point where they are now listed or imperiled. The warming climate is intensifying the impacts of these factors. On January 30, Governor Gavin Newsom released a plan for…

  • Dam Removal

    The Way Forward for the Eel River

    PG&E’s decommissioning plan for the Potter Valley Project on California’s Eel River would remove all in-river facilities and make it the longest free-flowing river in the state On November 17, six weeks after the last remnants of the Copco II Dam on the Klamath River were removed, the Pacific Gas and Electric company (PG&E) announced…

  • Restoration

    North Coast Coho Project wins NOAA Partners Award

    Another award highlights TU’s good work on coho populations and steelhead benefit too.

    A large culvert before being installed

    "Partners in the Spotlight” award recognizes TU’s leadership in building partnerships to restore priority habitats and advance Coho recovery in California. Trout Unlimited's North Coast Coho Project has earned a number of accolades for its partnership-driven habitat restoration work over the past 5 years. Recently, this ground-breaking program garnered another: national recognition by the National…

  • Dam Removal

    First of the Klamath dams comes down

    Areal view of cranes breaking a dam apart

    All four dams of the Lower Klamath Project will be gone by the end of 2024. The Copco II dam on the Klamath River was only 35 feet high. With the three other dams of the Lower Klamath Hydroelectric Project, however, it completely blocked fish passage and effectively cut the Klamath River in half, decimating…

  • Dam Removal Conservation

    Extraordinary measures

    Black and white photo of man with a rod looking at a river

    TU and partners sue Pacific Gas and Electric to restore California’s third largest river and its legendary salmon and steelhead fisheries. The Eel River, the beating heart of California’s Lost Coast, was historically one of the most productive rivers for salmon and steelhead in America. Today, however, the Eel’s anadromous fish populations are severely depressed…

  • From the field

    Sampling the southern Sierra

    River in forrest with mountains in Sequoia National Park

    A TU chapter partners with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to search for pure Kern River rainbow trout in its spectacular native range  In the summer of 2022, Jim Correa, president of TU’s Central Sierra Chapter, backpacked 30 miles with a 35-pound pack into one of the most remote places in the Lower…

  • Science

    Science Guides Native Trout Restoration

    CA’s science staff utilize low-tech processes for restoration in the remote native range of the golden trout There are several drivers of Trout Unlimited’s coldwater conservation work, but science is its beating heart. Many TU staff and volunteers — including the leading fish biologists, entomologists, hydrologists, ecologists, and mapping experts of our Science Program —…