15th Annual Coho Confab
The 15th Annual Coho Confab was held at Indian Creek Lodge from August 17-19, 2012, on the Trinity River in northern California.
The Coho Confab opened with a Friday evening community dinner. Afterward, orientation talks included a presentation by Mark Lancaster, Director of the Five Counties Salmonid Program, on Weaver Creek as a microcosm of the challenges facing coho in California, followed by a discussion with Arnold Whitridge, Trinity River advocate, on whether the $16 million-per-year Trinity River Restoration Program will be effective in restoring salmon populations. Research Geneticist, Carlos Garza, presented about coho salmon population structure in the Klamath Basin.
On Saturday there were several concurrent field tours including an all-day tour of migration barriers, large wood management and up-slope restoration projects on several Trinity River tributaries. Other Saturday morning tours included a look at instream macro-invertebrates and how they can help restoration projects, and a tour of road upgrades and stream crossings with a discussion of sediment reduction techniques. Saturday afternoon tours included the ever-popular underwater fish identification workshop and a look at Sidney Gulch, a coho-bearing urban stream.
When participants returned from tours they refreshed in the river or swimming pool and then joined an Open Forum discussion on the Landscape of Coho Recovery, which included presentations from Julie Weeder, NOAA Fisheries Recovery Coordinator, Darren Miereu of Cal Trout, and a representative of the NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center.
The day culminated with a BBQ feast and a serenade by river troubadour Alice di Micele. Sunday concluded with a half-day of concurrent tours and workshops including a river restoration tour from Lewiston Dam to Indian Creek, a second offering of macro-invertebrates sampling, and a tour and discussion of mainstem channel rehabilitation design on the Trinity River.
