To the Editor:
Before Scott Dam comes down, I suggest a trial run to “Save The Salmon”. A test if you will, to actually gauge the survive-ability of fish in the warm tributaries above Lake Pillsbury.
If the USFWS honestly believe that fish will survive and return in the tributaries above Lake Pillsbury I suggest the following:
1. Develop a comprehensive eradication plan for the Pike Minnow, regardless the outcome. Is the Plan currently being used on the South Fork working??
2 Set up a hatchery just below Scott Dam. Collect the eggs from all fish reaching that point in the river and hatch them. Plant them in all of the available streams above the dam. We have done this in the past at numerous times and places on the Eel River. There is recorded evidence that the program was extremely successful. The first was between 1897 and 1916, the Hatchery was on Price Creek a few miles upstream of Ferndale. After this, one was operated on Steelhead Creek located between Fort Seward and Alder Point and operated until 1942 and shut down because of the war. It worked then, why not now?
3. When appropriate, collect them and return them below the dam. (is this called trap & haul)?
And or
4. Rear the eggs and when appropriate release them back into the river to return to the ocean as normal. Monitoring of progress required.
5. I have reviewed a copy of the 2024 Eel River Watershed Restoration and Conservation Program. The leaders are California Trout, Stillwater Sciences and Applied River Sciences. The technical advisory committee: NOAA, NMFS, USFS, BLM, UC Berkeley, CDFW, Wiyot Tribe and the Eel River Forum participants. This comprehensive plan does not have to wait for the removal of Scott Dam. Thousands of miles of prime habitat need your help now! Check it out. www.caltrout.org
-Steven Elliott and Roy Branscomb, Potter Valley
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