A Pilot Program for Local Development of State Species Recovery Plans in California: The Shasta-Scott River Coho Salmon Recovery Team

摘要

The Shasta-Scott River Coho Salmon Recovery Team (SSRT) is an innovative pilot program to develop a local coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch recovery plan for the Shasta and Scott River watersheds, part of the Klamath River basin in northern California.The SSRT plan is part of the state-level plan for recovery of coho salmon. A state-wide Coho Salmon Recovery Team developed plans for other watersheds and for the nonagricultural areas of the Shasta and Scott River watersheds. Residents of the Shasta and Scott River watersheds requested permission to develop a local recovery plan, on the basis of the large agricultural land use sector in the watersheds (in contrast to forestry in most other coho salmon-bearing watersheds), and because of previous landowner efforts to improve fish habitat. The multi-stakeholder SSRT includes representatives of local landowners, the environmental community, sport fishers, and agencies, plus a science advisor from the University of California Cooperative Extension. Facilitated meetings were held from January to December 2003, during which the SSRT developed recovery action recommendations for agricultural water use, habitat management and restoration, fish passage, monitoring and assessment, and education. A unique feature of the process, and critical to continued landowner participation, is the concurrent development of new state processes for programmatic permitting of normal ranching and agricultural activities, including streambed alteration agreements and state incidental take permits. The SSRT approach relies mainly on voluntary, incentive-based actions, publicly funded through grants. The SSRT recommendations were part of the state coho salmon recovery strategy that was approved by the California Fish and GameCommission (Commission) in February 2004.