SRF January 2024 eNewsletter

In this eNewsletter you will find:

• 41st Annual Conference Registration Open
• SRF Conference - Call for Award Nominations
• SRF Poster Session
• Featured Workshop and Tour
• SRF Conference Scholarship
• Conference Banquet
• 2024 Conference Mentorship Program
• Sponsor the 41st Annual SRF Conference
• Donate to the Annual SRF Conference Silent Auction
• SRF Conference FAQs
• Featured Resource Page
• Sisiqyou Water Transaction Workshop
• Restoration Job Board
• SRF Merchandise

41st Annual Conference Registration Open

The 41st Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference will be held in Santa Rosa, California from March 26-29, 2024. Conference registration is now open and the sessions, workshops, and field tour agendas are now posted.

SRF Conference - Call for Award Nominations

Due February 11, 2024

Please submit 200 words or more to nominate candidates for the illustrious Restorationist of the Year Award, the Golden Pipe Award for Innovation, the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Gordon Becker Memorial River Advocate Award. Please find descriptions of the awards page. 

These awards will be presented at the 2024 Salmonid Restoration Conference Banquet. Nominations should be sent to srf@calsalmon.org by February 11, 2024. Please write "Award Nominations" in the subject line.

SRF Poster Session
Register by March 11, 2024

The Poster Session will be 7-10 pm on Thursday, March 28 at the Hyatt Regency. This annual event is open to all conference attendees and is a great venue to network with your peers.

If you would like to present during the Poster Session, click here to pre-register. Please email with any questions about the poster session.

Featured Workshop: Conservation Hatcheries

In many watersheds, particularly those at the southern edge of the range of anadromous salmonids, the Field of Dreams habitat restoration approach (“If you build it, they will come”) to salmon recovery doesn’t always happen at a fast enough pace to overcome land-use threats to highly imperiled populations. Assistance in the form of supplementing wild abundance via conservation hatchery releases can help buy time until ecological processes are restored to the point where habitat can support self-sustaining runs once again. Since hatchery releases allow the opportunity to mark and track fish, they can help identify bottlenecks to survival and inform habitat restoration efforts. To support endangered coho salmon recovery and prevent imminent extirpation, the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program (RRCSCBP) began releasing coho into the Russian River watershed in 2004. Join us for a day to reflect on what strategies have been most successful, lessons learned, and next steps. The workshop will include a combination of talks, a tour of the Don Clausen Fish Hatchery at Warm Springs Dam, and a panel discussion. Topics will include hatchery practices, spawning approaches to maximize genetic diversity, release strategies, and monitoring approaches and results. Learn more here.

Featured Tour: Urban Creeks

The SRF conference in Santa Rosa is a perfect opportunity to tour the City’s restoration projects. The City of Santa Rosa has over 100 miles of creek and 340 miles of storm drains. The tour will highlight the City and Sonoma Water's Creek Stewardship Program, showcase low impact development (LID) features, and explore multiple creek restoration projects. While traveling between sites, we will discuss illegal camping impacts, invasive vegetation management, stewardship initiatives, volunteer activities, and small-scale restorations throughout the City. Learn more here.

SRF Conference Scholarship

Thanks to the generous contributions from the Israel Family Fund, members, and co-sponsors, SRF will be offering Conference scholarships for the 41st Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Santa Rosa on March 26 -29, 2023. Scholarships are specifically for underrepresented members of the watershed restoration field including but not limited to, tribal members, students, and rural landowners.  

Fill out this form by February 1, 2024 which includes a 200-word explanation of why you would like to attend the SRF Conference, how it would benefit the work / studies you are doing, and how you anticipate applying what you learn. Scholarship recipients will be informed by February 8.

Conference Banquet
6:30 pm March 29, 2024

The SRF Conference Banquet features a fabulous dinner, a fun-filled cabaret, an awards ceremony to honor our restoration heroes, and a lively band. Please purchase your ticket in advance while you register for the conference. Learn more here. 

2024 Conference Mentorship Program

Sign up as a Mentor or Mentee!

To welcome first-time attendees, students, young professionals, and people from historically underrepresented groups, SRF is continuing our mentorship program. Each Mentee will be matched with one Mentor. Through a series of brief one-on-one meetings before, during, and after the annual conference, Mentors will help Mentees make good use of their time at the conference, provide networking opportunities, share career advice, and perhaps even build lasting connections. Visit our website to learn more and fill out this interest form!