EXISTING HABITAT AND WILDLIFE RESOURCES - Copeland Creek in the campus area is considered to be a migration corridor for steelhead, which apparently still spawn in the upper watershed east of Petaluma Hill Road (Bill Cox, pers. comm.). Copeland Creek and the adjacent riparian zone are designated critical habitat for coho salmon, and proposed critical habitat for steelhead. Both coho and steelhead probably spawned and reared young historically in Copeland Creek, including the reach that runs through the SSU campus. However, the stream has been heavily impacted by past land use practices, as have most streams in this region. Now, during a typical summer, all of the reach along the campus goes dry, and therefore does not support salmonid spawning or rearing, nor any resident fish populations. Although I observed gravel beds along the SSU reach that appeared to be potentially suitable for steelhead spawning, I found no evidence of spawning activity (i.e., no redds nor adult fish) during several surveys conducted during prime spawning periods following rains in January through April. In fact, I saw no fish of any species during the surveys. Since both steelhead and coho juveniles need at least one summer of rearing in freshwater streams (usually not far from where they emerged from the gravel beds in the spring) before going to sea to mature, it is not surprising that no spawning occurs near the campus now. If no juveniles have survived the summer in the campus reach for several years, there would be no predictable run of adults seeking the campus area to spawn. Those that still spawn higher up in the watershed may be imprinted to the upper watershed, i.e., the returning adults will follow chemosensory cues upstream past the campus and keep going until they reach the area where they were reared.

Historically, four anadromous salmonid species were native to the Russian River. These included chinook salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, and steelhead trout (Moyle 1976a). Although no accurate counts exist, historically, each year the combined anadromous fish returns were in the tens of thousands. Since settlement of the Russian River Basin began in the 1850’s, fish populations have declined. The impacts were noted as early as 1888, when the United States Bureau of Fish and Fisheries documented a decline in salmon populations (SEC 1996).
As the human population within the basin increased over time, pressure on the fisheries increased accordingly. Pink salmon became virtually extinct within the basin after 1955, while remaining salmonid populations in the Russian River plummeted, along with those in other river basins on the West Coast (Nehlsen et al. 1991).
Currently, all three species of salmonids found in the Russian River, defined as the California Coastal Chinook Salmon, Central California Coast Coho Salmon, and Central California Coast Steelhead Trout are listed as “Threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS 1997). A proposed listing for the coho salmon as state “Endangered” is currently under review by the State.
Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
The extent of the naturally occurring coho populations is better known. In a review of historic records SEC (1996) found that:
“Coho salmon (also known as silver salmon) were once so prevalent in the Russian River that they supported a commercial fishery (United States Bureau of Fish and Fisheries 1888). Cannery records give no mention of species, but fish weighed between eight and 20 pounds, suggesting coho were a large part of the catch. In 1888, 183,597 pounds of fish were caught near Duncan Mills for cannery and personal use (United States Bureau of Fish and Fisheries 1888). Assuming an average fish weight of 12 pounds, 15,300 fish were taken. Undoubtedly, many of these fish were coho. Since there is no indication of how many fish escaped capture and continued upstream, the cannery records by themselves may significantly underestimate salmon populations.”
Coho once inhabited nearly all of the tributaries to the lower Russian (specifically the Guerneville, and Austin Creek sub-basins) and portions of the Warm Spring and Forsythe Creek sub-basins (Figure 6). Records from the early 1990s document sightings of juvenile coho in the West Fork, but there are no records of adult spawning (Jones, CDFG, personal communication). While the distribution of coho within the system is better known, like chinook, early commercial records provide one of the few pictures of historic population size. Figure 4 from SEC (1996) depicts the decline in coho since the turn of the century. In 1975, Lee and Baker (1975) estimated Russian River coho escapement at 7,000. The COE (1982) estimated 1982 escapement at 5,000, and Dry Creek an estimated 300 fish before Warm Springs Dam was built. By the early 1990’s, estimates of combined wild and hatchery coho numbers for the entire Russian basin were predicted to be under 1,000 (Cox, CDFG, personal communication).

Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Information on steelhead is more extensive. In a review of the historical record SEC (1996) found that:
“Prolific Russian River steelhead runs once ranked as the third largest in California behind the Klamath and Sacramento rivers (COE 1982). Early population estimates are lacking, but anecdotal evidence alludes to large steelhead runs throughout the entire Russian River drainage (Jones, CDFG, personal communication; Anonymous 1893). During the 1930’s and on through the 1950’s, the Russian River was renowned as one of the world’s finest steelhead rivers. A healthy economy thrived on the sport fishing activity (COE 1982). Burghduff (1937) estimated the 1936 sport catch of steelhead at 15,000, and Christensen (1957) estimated the 1956/57 sport catch at 25,000. In 1957 there was an estimated 57,000 steelhead in the Russian River (Prolysts 1984).”
Steelhead utilize virtually every perennial and intermittent stream within the basin, and their distribution has not much changed, except where permanent barriers impede their migration (Figure 6). They have adapted to both the coniferous and hardwood-based systems, and even above barriers (both natural and man-made), “resident” steelhead or “rainbow trout” is found. Local human residents in the lower basin call these resident fish “mountain trout” due to the steep gradient in which they are found and the obstacles they have surmounted.
There have been no basin-wide population estimates of steelhead numbers since 1957, but their numbers have also declined. Figure 10 steelhead from SEC (1996) depicts their decline. Since steelhead is not subject to ocean catch, little information exists coast wide, except where hatchery information exists. Hatchery efforts in the Russian River have largely been successful, and WSH has established an annual run. Since 1981, combined return numbers for Warm Springs and Coyote dams range between 333 and 10,310. Recent hatchery returns for steelhead at Warm Springs Salmon and Steelhead Hatchery are shown in Table 6, while those for Coyote Valley Steelhead Facility are shown in Table 7. Figure 11 shows steelhead returns for both facilities from 1980-2001 and Figure 12 shows smolt to adult survival rates. The large returns in 1995, is thought to be the result of improved ocean conditions, high rainfall, and large scale hatchery plants at both Warm Springs Hatchery and Coyote Valley Fish Facility. Currently only the hatchery run is spawned at WSH and CVFF while wild fish are relocated to the tributaries.
Russian River Basin Fisheries Restoration Plan – July 2002

RUSSIAN RIVER COHO SALMON RECOVERY WORKGROUP
MEDIA ADVISORY
Workgroup Media Contacts:
Zeke Grader, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association (415) 561-5080
Bob Coey, California Department of Fish & Game (707) 744-8704
Miles Croom, National Marine Fisheries Service (707) 575-6068
Donna Shepard, U.S Army Corps of Engineers (415) 977-8658
Ky Russell, AmeriCorps/Institute for Fisheries Resources (415) 561-3474
What: Russian River Coho Salmon Recovery Program Update and Hatchery Tour
(See the fish, talk with workgroup participants and regulatory agency leaders.
Learn how this innovative captive breeding program can help restore coho salmon to Russian River tributaries.)
When: 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 17th
Where: Congressman Don Clausen Fish Hatchery, Lake Sonoma Visitor Center, please call Ky Russell (415) 561-3474 or Donna Shepard (415) 977-8658 for directions.
Lake Sonoma, April 12, 2002 -- Last spring, federal, state and local agencies, and fish conservationists joined together to form the Russian River Coho Salmon Recovery Workgroup and have since implemented an innovative program to save the Russian River’s threatened coho salmon from extinction. Hope for the coho now exists in the form of a captive breeding program that is underway at the Army Corps of Engineers’ Congressman Don Clausen Fish Hatchery located at Lake Sonoma. This program is intended to complement habitat restoration projects within the watershed and to recover this once bountiful salmon population.
In an aggressive move last summer, the California Department of Fish and Game, the state’s lead agency on the recovery project, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with conserving listed salmon, rescued approximately 300 juvenile coho salmon from Russian River and Marin County streams, many of which were fast drying up.
Today those fish are being carefully reared by California Department of Fish and Game hatchery specialists who are following a science-based management plan devised by workgroup scientists and biologists.
The hatchery currently spawns thousands of steelhead trout each year that are raised then released by the hatchery, and return there to spawn. Unlike this traditional hatchery operation, the coho program calls for raising the fish to maturity and then returning their young offspring to Russian River tributaries with suitable habitat. The hope is that in time, the planted coho will thrive and spawn naturally in the wild, eventually eliminating the populations’ dependence on hatchery supplementation.
Once abundant in Russian River tributaries, coho numbers have declined to levels that scientists believe are precariously low. Many fear that without intervention coho salmon could be lost forever in the Russian River system.
COHO RECOVERY
“The situation was so bad last spring that we all felt that we had to move quickly to try to jumpstart this population,” said Bob Coey, Senior Fisheries Biologist with the Watershed Program of the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG).
According to Coey, many of the pools where the fish were collected were already drying up. In total, biologists collected approximately 300 juveniles from Green Valley Creek, Mark West Creek and Redwood Creek on the Russian River, and Olema Creek in Marin County
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the federal agency responsible for managing and conserving living marine resources on the Russian River, issued a permit to CDFG in August, allowing the collection of fish.
While at the hatchery, NMFS researchers will analyze the DNA of the captured coho to assess the genetic variability of the fish. Results of that analysis will assist biologists in determining which fish should be matched in spawning to preserve the coho’s natural genetic variability.

“The collaboration of the various agencies and other partners in the Russian River coho recovery project is an example of the way that NMFS intends to approach recovery planning throughout California,” said Miles Croom, Recovery Coordinator for NMFS in the North-Central California Coast recovery planning area. “We can’t recover these fish alone; it will take the concerted efforts of all of us to return these populations to sustainable levels.”
Workgroup members recognize the need for continued restoration of habitat throughout the Russian River system and many workgroup participants are involved in a variety of independent efforts to restore habitat in native coho tributaries. Nonetheless, scientists studying the river believe that coho populations may be too small to rebound on their own.
“This program is critical for preserving coho that are native to the Russian River while we strive to restore habitat in the watershed that will again support abundant natural spawning populations of these salmon,” said Zeke Grader, of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and chair of the Russian River Coho Salmon Recovery Workgroup. Grader’s organization was involved in a similar and successful initiative 10 years ago to stop the extinction of Sacramento winter-run chinook salmon, by establishing a captive brood stock program coupled with habitat restoration and flow augmentation, to rebuild that endangered fish’s population.
“The working group partnership greatly enhances the prospect of success for the project,” said Peter LaCivita, Army Corps of Engineers Regional Fisheries Biologist.
“It provides a forum for federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations and watershed protection groups to address regulatory, technical and environmental concerns and move the recovery forward much more quickly than could otherwise be achieved.”
The Russian River Coho Recovery Work Group includes representatives from federal agencies -- the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Service; the state – California Department of Fish and Game; the county - Sonoma County Water Agency and the Marin Municipal Water District; the City of Santa Rosa; local watershed groups – AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project, Friends of the Russian River, Russian River Watershed Council, Tomales Bay Association; academia - the U.C. Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML), Sonoma State University, and U.C Cooperative Extension Sea Grant as well as non-governmental organizations such as Trout Unlimited, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and the Institute for Fisheries Resources.

A Collaborative Process
The working group was formed in April 2001 and includes representatives of the following, in alphabetical order:
The AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project
The California Department of Fish & Game
The City of Santa Rosa
The Friends of the Russian River
The Institute for Fisheries Resources
The Marin Municipal Water District
The National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
The Russian River Watershed Council
The Sonoma County Water Agency
The Tomales Bay Association
The University of California Cooperative Extension Sea Grant
The University of California Davis, Bodega Marine Laboratory
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District
Trout Unlimited
http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/whatsnew/newsrelease041602.html

CALIFORNIA SALMONID STREAM HABITAT RESTORATION MANUALGLOSSARY FEBRUARY, 1998 Stream: (includes creeks and rivers): A stream is a body of water that flows at least periodically or intermittently through a bed or channel having banks and supports fish or other aquatic life. This includes watercourses having a surface or subsurface flow that supports or has supported riparian vegetation. Streams in natural channels may be classified as follows: a) Relation to time: ephemeral: One that flows briefly only in a direct response to precipitation in the immediate locality and whose channel is at all times above the water table. intermittent or seasonal: One in contact with the ground water table that flows only at certain times of the year as when the ground water table is high and/or when it receives water from springs or from some surface source such as melting snow in mountainous areas. It ceases to flow above the stream bed when losses from evaporation or seepage exceed the available streamflow. perennial: One that flows continuously throughout the year. Syn: Permanent streams. b) Relation to space: continuous: One that does not have interruptions in space. interrupted: One that contains alternating reaches that are either perennial, intermittent, or ephemeral. c) Relation to ground water: insulated: A stream or reach of a stream that neither contributes to nor receives water from the zone of saturation. It is separated from the zones of saturation by an impermeable bed. gaining: A stream or reach of stream that receives water from the zone of saturation. losing: A stream or reach of stream that contributes water to the zone of saturation. perched: Either a losing stream or a insulated stream that is separated from the underlying ground water by a zone of aeration. d) Other: incised: A stream that has, through degradation, cut its channel into the bed of the valley.