The Watershed Conservation Authority (WCA) is offering a series of Zoom talks and field trips to explore natural and cultural resources in the Wildland Urban Interface where development meets the San Gabriel Mountains. WCA will be sharing the work of collaborators from different fields who contributed studies to inform WCA’s priorities for acquisition of conservation land in the Wildland Urban Interface, that delicate zone where development has occurred in areas that are dominated by natural processes. The goal of the events is to promote dialogue about these priorities and the role of conservation in the foothills Wildlands Urban Interface. CHECK IT OUT HERE >>
These events are free and open to the public. Please remember to RSVP to save your space and receive meeting details.
President Biden on Thursday expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by nearly a third in an action that was widely praised by the Indigenous leaders, politicians, conservationists and community organizers who had long fought for the enlargement of the protected natural area that serves as the backyard of the Los Angeles Basin. To that end, Thursday’s announcement included a commitment from the federal government that it would step up funding and staffing for the monument, including hiring additional field rangers and visitor engagement positions, and investing $2.3 million from the Great American Outdoors Act to renovate barracks and provide other housing for National Forest staffers. Read the whole story >>HERE.
THE ARROYO CHUB FISHING PLATFORM is the closest platform to Cogswell Dam, some seven miles from the parking lot. (Credit: Jim Burns)
The West Fork of the San Gabriel River, within the National Monument, is a place like no other: close to a major metropolitan area; protected as part of a national monument; accessible to biking fly fishers along a seven-mile stretch of a beautiful Southern California canyon. It holds a state designation of a “wild and scenic river,” one of two in SoCal, and is home to four iconic fishing platforms meant to enhance the outdoor experience for disabled fishers. In the past, the Forest Service, which is tasked with its upkeep, offered a key for those disabled fishers who wished to drive past the locked gate up the canyon to use the ramps. In all, this was one of the most accessible areas in which to catch wild trout.
“I don’t know of any other place in the state of California where (people in wheelchairs) can go and fish on a wild-trout stream,” William Brown, a U.S. Forest Service biologist, told the Los Angeles Times in 1992. I know there are other facilities in Northern California where you can fish on a regular stream, but on a wild-trout stream, this is it.”
THE STATE OF DISREPAIR of the Arroyo Chub Fishing Platform, as well as the other three iconic platforms on the West Fork, make their use impossible. (Credit: Jim Burns)
Built in the 1970s, before the Americans with Disabilities Act defined disability rights as civil rights, the platforms’ creation used public and private money to offer a unique experience open to everyone.
Yet as of this writing, each of the four fishing platforms is unusable. It’s a situation Dave Baumgartner, president of the volunteer group Fisheries Resources Volunteer Corps, finds both frustrating and untenable.
“FRVC and possibly other conservation volunteer groups routinely maintained these ramps through 2019 with no interference from the federal and state agencies,” Baumgartner said in an email. “After the Bobcat Fire in 2020 the West Fork was closed to the public until 2022 (my best recollection). Once the public was allowed access, FRVC inspected the ramps and informed the Forest Service of our plans to remove the sediment and vegetation from the ramps.”
But that renovation never happened, for several reasons, including the presence of Santa Ana sucker habitat, a threatened species. This small fish lives in only three Southern California river basins, San Gabriel, Los Angeles and Santa Ana.
“Lots of factors delayed potential removal and replacement of the fishing platforms along the West Fork of the San Gabriel River,” Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Dana Dierkes said. She cited several reasons including moving earmarked funds for the diabled ramps granted through The Great American Outdoors Act to other more expeditious projects, continued Bobcat Fire debris removal by Public Works and “additional consultation … needed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), due to threatened and endangered species that inhabit the project area.”
Jennifer Pareti, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, agreed, saying, “The Angeles National Forest is federal land, and typically CDFW is not involved with USFS maintenance actions.” But the Santa Ana Sucker, a federally threatened species, is protected by the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Forest Service “is required to have a Biological Opinion through a Section 7 Consultation.” A Section 7 Consultation basically means that any action taken by the Forest Service can’t harm the Santa Ana Sucker.
Federal bureaucracy can make any restoration effort a challenge, including restoring the four disabled fishing platforms. This permitting process can take several months to several years.
Yet, as Bumgartner noted, “The real frustrating aspect to this whole scenario is that the Forest Service allows OHV stream crossings across SAS habitat. They allow, or have made little or no steps to mitigate recreational dam building on all San Gabriel River forks, which severely impacts SAS habitat and disrupts spawning success.”
Project Healing Waters is “a leading nonprofit in therapeutic outdoor recreation, using the sport of fly fishing as an intervention,” according to its website. When asked about the situation on the West Fork, local leader Cruz Orlenas replied,
“Anytime access to a fishing location is made available, it is always welcomed by Veterans.
“Keep in mind that many Vets are not wheel chair bound but have difficulty in walking. Access ramps are always helpful for easy access to fishing spots. Many Vets use walkers or canes or have artificial arms or legs and benefit from ramp use. Anytime a Vet can have easy access, it makes that Vet feel that someone cares and wants them to continue to enjoy the sport of fly fishing and the comrades they fish with.”
Meanwhile, The Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office proposes to reestablish the Santa Ana sucker at Devil’s Canyon near Cogswell Dam in the Angeles National Forest.
The Santa Ana Sucker (Courtesy Los Padres Forest Watch)
“CDFW Region 5 is generally in support of Santa Ana sucker recovery actions that will benefit the recovery of Santa Ana sucker and move toward the species being removed from the endangered species list,” Pareti said. “The Santa Ana sucker co-evolved with our other native Southern California species, including rainbow trout. These two species are present together throughout the West, North and East forks of the San Gabriel River.”
(Credit: NOAA Fisheries. Click to watch a three-minute video.)
As of this Earth Day, the verdict is in for Southern California steelhead. State wildlife officials have voted to list the fish all readers of lariverflyfishing love (fishing for carp, waiting for steelhead) as endangered. The listing, which echoes the federal listing in 1997, adds such protections as:
— Hands off. SoCal steelhead are off limits to angling.
— State agencies must protect these steelhead and their habitat when approving projects.
— Matilija Dam, Rindge Dam, Trabuco Creek, and the Santa Margarita River, Solstice Creek will all receive further scrutiny. Who knows if this will actually speed the process up of dam removal, fish passages and more water staying in our local watershed? I also wonder what this means for our own Brown Mountain Dam? Aren’t the trout in back of JPL the great-great-great- grandsons and daughters of ocean-going steelhead? Tear that sucker down as well.
George Sutherland, South Coast Chapter, Trout Unlimited’ s Conservation Chair and the co-founder, SC Steelhead Coalition, put it like this:
“I hope that this will lead to completion of many great projects of value to our watersheds, streams, estuaries, wetlands, ecosystems and habitats.
“The steelhead just need a bit more help. I’m proud to have been be a part of this focussed effort since 1980 and can’t wait to get moving forward.”
THIS ADULT STEELHEAD, close to 24 inches long, was detected in Salsipuedes Creek, a tributary of the Santa Ynez River in southern Santa Barbara County, on March 22. Apparently the fish was accompanied by two others, and all were released after taking scale and tissue samples from the photographed fish. (Credit: Mark H. Capelli, National Marine Fisheries Service)
California environmental groups are urging a federal court to intervene amid a “dramatic increase” in the deaths of threatened steelhead trout at pumps operated by state and federal water managers.
Since Dec. 1, more than 4,000 wild and hatchery-raised steelhead have been killed at pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, according to public data for the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. The agencies are now at about 90% of their combined seasonal take limit, which refers to the amount of wild steelhead permitted to be killed between January and March under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Read the whole story from the Los Angeles Time >>HERE.
That’s right, get ready to arrive early on weekends to avoid the summer crowds . Work crews with lots of heavy equipment will be on the scene Monday through Friday, which means access is nil. If you’re biking, e-biking, skateboarding, be careful! Don’t wear your headphones going around curves. Do bring your rod! (Credit: Jim Burns)
The Forest Service has released its draft Piru Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) and is inviting public comments by March 31, 2024. This plan will be the legal framework for management of Piru Creek for decades and must, by law, protect the creek’s free-flowing character and “outstandingly remarkable” values.
BACKGROUND:
Located in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, Piru Creek originates in the Sespe Wilderness on the Los Padres National Forest. The creek is a rare free-flowing waterway draining the dry mountains of southern California. The creek provides unique recreation opportunities and supports several threatened and endangered wildlife species.
For years, CalWild and many other organizations and activists have pressed the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to expand protection of Piru Creek by recognizing its many natural and cultural values as outstandingly remarkable. Unfortunately, the Forest Service has a long history of opposition to protecting the creek downstream of Pyramid Dam.
In response to continued advocacy by CalWild and others, the USFS has now determined in the draft Plan and its accompanying resources report that the creek possesses the following outstandingly remarkable values: scenery, fish, and geology.
Still, the USFS refuses to identify an outstandingly remarkable recreation value for Piru Creek, even though the stream offers a rare opportunity in southern California for class III-V whitewater kayaking and catch and release trout fishing. In addition, Frenchman’s Flat on the recreation segment of the creek is a popular low-cost swimming destination for local communities, many of which are communities of color.
For a more extensive version of this alert, click here.
TAKE ACTION!
Either submit the form letter below to comment on the draft Plan by the March 31 deadline, or write your own letter using the example for talking points. Be sure to include any personal experience you may have enjoyed recreating in Piru Creek.
To submit an electronic comment by the March 31 deadline, go to: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=58710. Fill in the required contact information and cut and paste your comments in the Letter Text box provided. You can also mail a hard copy of your comments by March 31.
If you have any questions about this alert, feel free to contact Steve Evans, CalWild Rivers Director, email:sevans@calwild.org, phone: (916) 708-3155.
SAMPLE LETTER
Supervisor Roman Torres
Angeles National Forest
701 North Santa Anita Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91006
Attn: Piru Creek CRMP
Dear Supervisor Torres:
Thank you for determining in the Piru Creek Comprehensive River Management Plan that the designated segment of Piru Creek possesses outstanding scenery, fish, and geology values. However, I urge you to include the creek’s rare and unique recreational opportunities as a specific outstandingly remarkable value protected in the Plan.
Piru Creek between Pyramid Dam and Piru Reservoir provides a rare opportunity for class III-IV whitewater kayaking in a truly wild setting, all just an hour drive from Los Angeles.
In addition, the trackless Wild segment of Piru Creek offers a rare but easily accessible canyoneering experience, while Frenchman’s Flat upstream is a popular family recreation destination for local communities of color to seek respite from the summer heat. A short segment of the creek is also one of only two catch and release trout streams in southern California and is popular with anglers.
I urge you to recognize Piru Creek’s outstanding recreational value. I support the proposed and potential future management actions in the draft CRMP and urge the U.S. Forest Service to complete its visitor use capacity analysis as soon as possible.
Returning to the moving waters where my father first introduced me to the art of fly fishing three decades ago feels like a journey through time, each ripple on the surface a memory stirred.
What once was a simple father-son outing has now transformed into a pilgrimage of sorts, as I witness the fruits of nature’s labor. In the tranquil stream where my father patiently taught me to cast my line without snatching a tree limb above me, wild trout still spawn.
Not fires, pollution, and other of nature’s wrath can stop these fish. Even though graffiti and trash may still paint the picture, the trout are doing their part. It’s time that we do ours.
lariverflyfishing 