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The Turtle Island Restoration Network’s program, the Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN) has received a $935,000 grant award from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement its “Lagunitas Creek Floodplain & Riparian Restoration, Tocaloma CA” project. The project calls for the restoration of floodplains and the improvement of habitat for critically endangered coho salmon on National Park Service lands near unincorporated Olema.
The project, builds upon Turtle Island’s partnership with Point Reyes National Seashore to re-wild the ghost towns of Tocaloma and Jewel after the recent removal of dozens of abandoned houses and structures. Studies organized by SPAWN have pointed to tens of thousands of cubic yards of fill that were placed in the floodplain during the construction of these homes decades ago. This limited the survival of overwintering juvenile salmon who normally sought refuge in floodplains to escape high flow storm events. The area includes a one-mile stretch of Lagunitas Creek just west of Samuel P. Taylor State Park along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
“This exciting project will re-create habitat necessary for the survival and recovery of critically endangered coho salmon, and will correct poor land development policies of the past,” said Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of Turtle Island. The grant funds are part of the California Fish & Wildlife Department Watershed Restoration & Delta Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration Grant Program. They have been given “to support this important initiative to further watershed restoration and protection projects of statewide importance,” according to the Department.
As one of SPAWN’s largest habitat restoration projects to date, the project is a partnership with Point Reyes National Seashore, the California Fish & Wildlife Department, the California Coastal Conservancy and members of Turtle Island to restore a mile of creekside habitat. To date the project partners have contributed $990,000 in funds and resources to conduct the necessary biological, engineering and state and national environmental compliance studies necessary to remove the structures before beginning the actual habitat restoration.
The project is not yet a “done deal,” according to Steiner. “We are still looking for local ‘angels’ to fill the funding gap and help bring this amazing project to fruition. We still need to raise nearly $700,000 of ‘matching’ funds from non-California State government funding sources in order to receive the State funding, and this is a big stretch for us. But it is critically important to salmon recovery, so we will continue to work tirelessly throughout 2017 to make sure it happens,” he said.
Preston Brown, SPAWN’s watershed biologist and project manager, has indicated that part of the matching funding will come in the form of volunteer time provided by the hundreds of SPAWN volunteers and interns each year who donate their time to salmon recovery.
“In addition to recreating floodplain habitat, we will be installing large woody debris structures in the creek, creating back channel habitat, and removing and replacing invasive non-native plants with native species grown in our native plant nursery,” said Brown. “This is an inspiring project for everyone involved and we love to organize these fantastic coalitions of organizations and individuals to get the job done. We hope to break ground this summer.”
