Salmonid Restoration Federation

The Salmonid Restoration Federation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the City of Santa Barbara will host the 32nd Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Santa Barbara, CA on March 19-22. The theme of this year’s conference is “Recovery Strategies for Coastal Salmonids” and the conference agenda highlights innovative strategies and implementation techniques to restore and recover salmonids. This conference agenda also explores large-scale issues affecting fisheries recovery including climate change and drought as well as the social aspects of how we steward water, plan for resiliency, and leverage limited resources.

Workshops will examine innovative and successful restoration practices including reopening blocked fish passage, innovative stormwater and water conservation programs, steelhead and beaver interactions, and new resources for coastal monitoring.

We leave Tuesday and if you wonder if I’m nervous the answer is YES. I’m nervous about the drive, nervous about my talks, nervous about my computer, and nervous about my constitution because my health ain’t what it was before I went into the hospital. I’ve practiced with a stopwatch and looked over the maps and rehearsed everything I can think of while making lists of what we need to bring. God willing it will all work out okay.

I work Monday and we drive down Tuesday. The steelhead-beaver panel is wednesday morning, and Michael Pollock, Mike Callahan, Mary Obrien & Sherry and Ted Guzzi are coming for dinner that night. Then we have Thursday to relax but on Friday Duane Nash and Rick Lanman are coming for lunch with some folks from DFW who want to talk beavers and reintroduction! That night is our poster session and the following morning is my talk on using beavers to restore urban streams with Ann Riley’s group.

Then we drive home. Is that a beaver whirlwind? I ‘m planning on stopping at Castoro cellars on the way down and Cambria on the way back to add a little wine-tasting  excitement to the trip. But I’m terrified we’ll break down on 101 and sit in traffic with an upset stomach for hours before being rescued. Wish me luck!

A lovely bit of good cheer came this morning from  illustrator Patrizia Donaera, who said she’s “charmed by our story” because “beaver are her muse”. I think that’s an excellent muse to have, and I love her   “Mouse and Beaver” which she did for a story book illustration a while back. Thanks Patrizia!