The 26th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference took place in Lodi and was focused on Recovery in the Heartland.
The time was ripe to host the conference in the San Joaquin Valley due to the significance of the recent San Joaquin Restoration settlement. This state-of-the-art conference included two full days of workshops and field tours on fisheries restoration topics, a Plenary session with prominent keynote speakers, and concurrent sessions focusing on environmental, biological, and policy issues that affect salmonid recovery. This premier restoration conference featured all-day field tours of Tuolumne and Stanislaus River restoration and monitoring projects, a Fisheries Monitoring and Management tour of the Mokelumne River, and half-day workshops and tours of fish-friendly vineyards, and the Cosumnes River Preserve, as well as an evening tour of watershed education projects in Lodi. Workshops include Fins and Zins: Sustainable Agriculture and Watershed Management, Fish Passage: Managing Flows on Regulated Rivers and Streams, Floodplain Restoration, and Invasive Species.
The Plenary session included presentations by Christina Swanson, Senior Scientist of the Bay Institute, who discussed Bay Delta recovery issues. Gordon Grant, Research Hydrologist at the USFS Pacific NW Research Station in Corvallis presented on climate change and its affect on water in the west. UC Davis Fisheries Professor and Inland Fishes of California author, Peter Moyle, discussed the state of California salmonids and restoring native fishes to the San Joaquin. Scientist Robert Lackey from the EPA discussed the Salmon 2100 Project that factors global conditions into long-term projections about salmon recovery around the world.
Concurrent sessions focused on the policy and biological considerations in formulating the San Joaquin Restoration Program, Recovery Planning Models, Central Valley Salmonids Restoring Natural Hydrographs, Dam Removal and Salmonid Recovery, Engaging the Community in Salmonid and Watershed Education, and Monitoring and Management issues in the Central Valley.
Other highlights of the conference included the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, a Watershed Stewards Project & California Conservation Corps Social, a poster session and reception, and a cabaret, a Copper River salmon banquet, and a lively dance party with Latin-dance band Sambada.
