When we were getting ready for the Beaver Summit I was surprised to hear how glum Michael Pollock felt about the California Salmon population. Something he said about them suggested that whatever we did to help it was probably too late for these fish, IN 2022 they counted only 500,000 crossing back from the ocean.
Historically, an estimated 5.5 million salmon returned to California rivers. Since the 1950s, less than 500,000 fish, on average, are counted.
Last night word dropped that the new grant program will spend 100 a fish. And 4 of every 100 on beavers. I can only wish we spent this money 40 years ago…
California Distributes $50 Million to Boost Salmon Population
SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has awarded $50 million in grants for 15 projects to support a diverse array of habitat restoration projects in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, McCloud River, and wetland and meadow projects statewide.
Several projects will directly support Governor Newsom’s recently released California’s Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future, which outlines six priorities and 71 actions to build healthier, thriving salmon populations in California.
Guess who is one of the biggest winners in this distribution> Go ahead, guess.
$2 Million for CDFW Beaver Restoration Program.
The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center was awarded $2 million for the California Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program, a first ever project supporting beaver coexistence for landowners. The project will provide financial and technical support to landowners through a new block grant program and California Beaver Help Desk.
“We are excited that our proposal to create a new California Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program Proposal was awarded by CDFW,” said Brock Dolman, Co-Director, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute. “Our program will allow landowners and tenants to share in the climate-smart and nature-based benefits of living with beavers. This is an exciting win-win for people, beavers and habitats across California.”
2 Million dollars for a beaver program designed to help landowners coexist and keep their streams open for salmon. Thats a heck of a lot of money. That works out to be something like 30000 per county. I guess more because not every county has salmon.
For context the entire budget of CDFW’s beaver restoration was only 2.7 million. They were supposed to use that to educate as well.
I’m guessing they decided to subcontract.
CDFW Awards OAEC Grant to Create Beaver Coexistence Program
The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute is humbled and excited to announce that we have been awarded a $2 million block grant to develop a program to build California’s capacity for successful beaver coexistence implementation.
WATER Institute Co-Director Kate Lundquist said, “This is an immense honor to have been selected by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to receive this award. We are grateful for this opportunity to work with trusted partners at the Beaver Institute to create a comprehensive education and block grant program. A first in the state, this program will provide accessible coexistence information, trainings for installers, and technical and financial assistance to landowners to facilitate the best possible outcome for beavers and humans alike.”
WATER Institute Co-Director Brock Dolman noted, “The development of this program couldn’t come at a better time for California. With the implementation of CDFW’s 2023 Beaver Depredation Policy requiring landowners to implement feasible nonlethal corrective actions to prevent future beaver damage, the program will provide resources to those seeking to mitigate damage while still receiving the ecological benefits from beaver activity.”
Congratulations to our Beaver Buddies at OAEC which I imagine are going to have a very busy time pulling this helpdesk together,
