Eel River Recovery Project Launches ‘Eel Zoom II’ Series

This is a press release from the Eel River Recovery Project:

The Eel River Recovery Project (ERRP) hosted a popular Zoom series in April and May 2021 and they are returning to the same format from October 15 to November 19 in order to inform people about things of importance and interest in the Eel River watershed.  The time for the series is at 5 PM on Fridays, and presentations are substantive, but breezy and entertaining in keeping with their “Happy Hour” timing.  

On Friday, October 15, archaeologist Thomas Keter will make a presentation on the effects of the August Fire in the North Fork Eel River watershed.  His study of the watershed extends back to 1983, and his latest findings are based on visits to the North Fork in spring and summer this year.  Tom is an animated presenter with a wealth of knowledge.

Archaeologist Thomas Keter with native grass expert Kirsten Hill in the North Fork. 5/22/21. Photo by Susan Nolan.

ERRP has an exciting forest health pilot project in the Tenmile Creek watershed near Laytonville and presentations on October 22 and 29 will touch on forest and grassland health, respectively.  Registered Professional Forester Ken Baldwin of BBW Forestry will join Tim Bailey of the Watershed Research & Training Center and ERRP Director Pat Higgins on October 22 to address the topic of Speeding North Coast Forest Health Implementation.  A new forest health management plan template developed for the project will be discussed that could be used in other North Coast watersheds. Tim’s specialty is remote sensing and he will explain how use of Light Detection and Ranging technology, or LIDAR, can help understand forest health at a landscape scale and even calculate how project carbon sequestration.  Tens of millions of dollars could be obtained, if the North Coast community organizes around forest health.

While overstocked forests are now widely recognized as contributing to catastrophic fire, the shift from native to non-native grasses has also increased fuels and fire risk.  Tune in on Friday, October 29 for Restoring Native Grasses at a Watershed Scale with presenters Hugh McGee of the Mattole Restoration Council and native grass specialist Dr. Kirsten Hill.  Benefits of restoring native grasses beyond fire risk reduction include increased forage for wildlife, improved stream flows, and carbon sequestration.  The Tenmile Creek pilot project is funded with California Climate Investments funding granted by the California Natural Resources Agency, Department of Conservation through the North Coast Resource Partnership.

ERRP Tenmile Creek grass field trip (l to r) Lyn Talkovsky, Pat Higgins, Hugh McKee, Bob Vassar, Tony Varnhagen, Steve Greenberg, Kirsten Hill, Mike Hembree, Liz Varnhagen, Steve Brown, Michelle Barton, and Kirk Lumpkin. Photo by Alex Rios. 5/8/21.

On November 5, learn from Evan Engber and Philip Buehler of BioEngineering Associates how eroding stream banks can be healed and a thriving and resilient riparian community can be restored.  Bioengineering is the use of copious amounts of willow and strategic amounts of large rock to rebuild stream banks.  The willow roots hold the rocks, making the structures impervious to flood flows, and the willow branches dampen currents and cause sediment deposition.  Seeds of other riparian trees, such as alder and cottonwood, settle in the silt deposits and create more species diversity and better cover for fish over time.

Hydrologist Teri Jo Barber of Ridge to River and Anna Birkas of Village Ecosystems will talk about Healing Gullies to Reduce Erosion and Help Improve Stream Flow on Friday, November 12.  Gullies are features that form when water is deflected onto a forested or grassland hillslope where there is no armoring.  They are major contributors of sediment pollution to streams.  As they down cut into the landscape, they drop the water table, decreasing available water for nearby plants.  Teri Jo and Anna are contracting with ERRP under a Coastal Conservancy Prop 1 grant to remediate gully erosion in the Tenmile Creek watershed.

Pat Higgins of ERRP will be joined by Adam Canter, Natural Resources Director for the Wiyot Tribe, to talk about how the 2021-2022 fall Chinook salmon run is shaping up and the urgent need to restore habitat in the lower Eel River.  This will be the last Eel Zoom II episode of the series on November 19.

For links to the Eel Zoom II presentations, go to www.eelriverrecovery.org or visit the ERRP Facebook page.  Viewers will need to sign up for one or all Zoom presentations to be allowed access, but there is no charge.  Zooms are recorded and then linked from the front page of the ERRP website and all Eel Zooms from the first series are available there now.