Excessive sedimentation of the South Fork Trinity River has been identified as one of the key factors limiting the recovery of salmon and steelhead in the basin (CDWR, 1982; Irizarry and Haskins, 1988). Watershed restoration has aided recovery of fish habitat in several areas (Platts and Megahan, 1979; Moyle and Morford, 1988; Harr and Nichols, 1993). Elsewhere in the Klamath basin, West (1991) has formulated a plan which takes a watershed approach to recovering spring chinook salmon in the Salmon River in Siskiyou County (see Chapter XV). The plan won a national award within the USFS in 1992 and was funded through a direct line item appropriation from Congress. Over $300,000 for riparian restoration has been accrued to begin action as part of this model program. In FY 1992 the total program expenditure for the Salmon River was $750,000.
Signs are very positive with regard to substantial USFS funding for watershed stabilization in the South Fork Trinity River basin, because of the new federal emphasis of preventing further decline of Pacific salmon stocks at risk of extinction (USFS, 1992). The Clinton Administration is considering watershed restoration as a tool for job creation and as a mechanism to prevent the extinction of Pacific salmon stocks. Congress recently held hearings on employing a watershed approach to restoring salmon and steelhead, and seems inclined to pass legislation to promote such actions. A region-wide program of this nature is estimated to cost approximately $150 million (PRC, 1993). If such funding were secured, the South Fork Trinity River's identification as a key watershed (Johnson et al., 1991; USFS, 1992) insures that local Forests will receive a portion of this funding.
The best method to win acceptance of a South Fork Trinity River basin restoration plan for salmon and steelhead is to link it to economic development. There are several different approaches that could be used to merge economic development and fisheries restoration. Sport fishing for salmon and steelhead was formerly a sizable contributor to the economy in the South Fork Trinity River basin and fisheries restoration could help restore this component of the local economy. If Hayfork Creek were opened to fishing for winter steelhead, economic development and recreational benefits for the Hayfork community might be accrued as well.
Plumas County is part of a large Cooperative Resource Management Planning (CRMP) effort to restore the East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather River. The Plumas Corporation is a non-profit organization set up by the county to administer the restoration program, as well as the county's economic development and tourism programs (Jim Wilcox, personal communication). Since the Plumas Corporation began directing the restoration program, it has brought $5 million into the community. As a result of a MOA related to the CRMP with the USFS, the Plumas Corp. is able to contract with the forest service directly to accomplish restoration objectives. This keeps many jobs related to restoration available for the community's work force.
The Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program, operated under the SCS, was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962 to expand opportunities for conservation districts, local governments, and individuals to improve their communities in multi-county areas (Barnard, 1969). The program is intended to enhance economic, environmental and social well being of the communities under the RC&D Program. It gives a priority to serving areas that have "chronic high unemployment and underemployment." One of the major benefits of a RC&D Program is the increased level of cooperation and coordination between agencies, particularly those under the USDA (USDA SCS, 1969).
The newly expanded Humboldt County RCD and the Trinity County RCD could combine to form a RC&D Program to benefit the South Fork Trinity River Basin. The vehicle could function as a conduit for restoration and other economic development funding for the basin. The RC&D mechanism is being used in the Sierra Nevada as "non-threatening way to address biodiversity, conserve natural resources, enhance economic development, and involve local interests" (Roan, 1993). The High Sierra RC&D has acquired funding for building hardwood related business opportunities and is helping small land owners to improve forest planning and production.
Congress enacted several pieces of legislation in 1990 to help rural communities. The Rural Development Administration (RDA) was set up by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act (FACT Act) and operates under the USDA FHA. The mission of the RDA is to "finance needed community facilities and infrastructure which support community and business growth" (Baron, 1992). It can leverage capital for business ventures that can create jobs, as well as promote strategies for economic development.
Much of RDA support is in the form of low interest loans, but some grant funds are available to non-profit corporations or public entities for business start ups. Grants are also available to support up to 75% of the costs of water or waste disposal facilities. In 1991, solid waste management grants were awarded to eliminate pollution of water resources and improve planning of solid waste management. The RDA Western Region covers six western states and is headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This region currently has $35-40 million available for grants and loans (Jim Spears, personal communication).
The 1990 Farm Bill included a section specifically dealing with National Forest dependent rural communities, such as Hayfork, that are experiencing economic dislocation. The intent of this portion of the bill is to upgrade existing industries to more efficiently use forest products and to expand the economic base of rural communities to decrease their dependence on forest resources. The USFS is directed to help implement actions pursuant to these goals. Toward that end, the USFS in California has spent over $600,000 since 1990 on economic recovery projects and economic diversification studies (Erwin, 1992).
Funding A Waste Water Treatment Plant To Prevent Pollution and Help Water Conservation
Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, sewer treatment plants for rural communities can receive subsidies of up to 95%. The water quality problems in recent drought years in Hayfork Creek (Frink et al., 1990) would probably qualify the community for such assistance. A water treatment facility would not only abate pollution of the creek from septic systems, but also conserve some stream flow if treated water from the facility was used for watering the park, the high school athletic fields, and the Trinity County Fairgrounds. If tourism, or other less consumptive industries, becomes part of economic development in Hayfork, then additional motels and restaurants will be required. With current septic and water availability problems, such development of needed infrastructure is not possible (Manuel Baldenegro, personal communication).
Unfortunately, all funds for this program as originally authorized have been spent, but future re-authorization is possible. Under the RC&D Program, FHA can cover 75% of the cost of a community waste water treatment facility in a community of high economic need such as Hayfork. Grants are also available for technical assistance for feasibility studies for water or waste water systems. The town of Hayfork is not currently on any of the State Water Resource Control Board grant/loan lists for a wastewater treatment. A study to demonstrate water quality problems in Hayfork Creek will be necessary before such status is forthcoming.
A successful fisheries restoration program in the South Fork Trinity River basin will require an extensive monitoring and evaluation program to guide its activities and measure its success (see Chapter XIII). Cooperative strategies involving numerous entities will be necessary to fund such efforts.
The USFS embarked on a major monitoring program following the 1987 wildfires to determine the effects of the fires and salvage logging on stream health. Funding for this work has severely diminished in the last several years (Darrel Ranken, personal communication). Little monitoring has been done on the effects of timber harvesting or road building on private lands in the basin. Potential funding mechanisms for these much needed studies might come from CDF, CDFG, SWRCB, EPA, USFS and private timber land owners. If well planned studies on specific limiting factors, such as stream temperatures, pool volumes, fine sediment levels or aquatic invertebrates, were funded by all these interested parties, the costs for each entity would be affordable. A cooperative study might also be directed at channel changes in the South Fork Trinity River basin. Such cooperative studies would also lead to heightened communication between various jurisdictions and facilitate a closer working relationship among those working to abate water quality and sediment related problems.
Volunteer monitoring efforts are finding increasing favor with the EPA and SWRCB. Region 10 of EPA (Washington, Oregon and Idaho) has now implemented a Streamwalk Program whereby volunteers collect water quality information and feed it into EPA databases. The restoration program on the East Branch of the North Fork Feather River in Plumas County is being monitored by high school students under a job training program funded by EPA. Piner High School students in Santa Rosa have received funding through the SWRCB to monitor non-point source pollution to the Russian River and to educate the public on this problem.
Between 1982 and 1991, CDFG had spent over $33 million in grant monies on stream restoration and cooperative rearing projects to benefit salmon and steelhead in California (Flosi and Turner, 1991). The level of funding for restoration and rearing projects has decreased due to budget constraints in recent years, but money is still available from the Commercial Salmon Stamp Account, Proposition 70, and Proposition 99 (Reading, 1991). The new steelhead punch card now required in California also will provide funds for restoration projects that benefit steelhead. Proposals are accepted each year in March by CDFG and evaluated by committees including staff, members of the California Salmon and Steelhead Advisory Committee, and the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee.
Project proposals submitted are judged on how well they address limiting factors for the species that is to benefit from the effort. Cost efficiency for rearing programs is also considered. The projects selected for funding are submitted to the Director of CDFG for approval and those not recommended remain on a list for consideration if other funds become available. CDFG has restoration specialists on staff that can help with evaluation of the need for projects and give advice on planning and proposal development.
If small scale rearing projects for fall chinook salmon are found to be feasible and desirable, funding might also be acquired from CDFG Salmon Stamp funds. Capital improvements, such as rearing tanks that are being phased out at other locations, might be shifted to the South Fork Trinity River to decrease capital costs of setting up such a program.
The Klamath National Forest has been conducting dive counts of spring chinook and summer steelhead during summer low flow periods on the Salmon River since 1986. Since 1990, USFS staff has been joined by volunteers from the community and from Trout Unlimited, a nationwide organization of conservation oriented anglers. The volunteers increase the number of divers available, so that all holding areas in the river can be surveyed in a two day period. The USFS has provided meals, but volunteers supply their own gear. Involving the community has raised awareness about how few fish there are and has helped to decrease poaching.
California Trout, Inc., has been a cooperator in the South Fork Trinity River's Model Steelhead Demonstration Program, and has long term interest in the watershed's recovery. In the past, Cal Trout has been successful in winning grant funding for conservation efforts from foundation sources for Siskiyou County projects to benefit native trout. They may be able to find similar funding for South Fork Trinity River projects.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provides matching funds to agencies and private groups to support restoration of native fish stocks, including anadromous salmonids, through its "Bring Back the Natives" program. Over one million dollars annually is available through a cooperative program with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Projects to help restore South Fork Trinity River salmon and steelhead stocks on USFS lands might be good candidates for funding under the "Bring Back the Natives" program. Volunteer participation and matching funds from non-Federal sources would lead to the highest likelihood of funding under this program.
A modest amount of money is also available annually from the Trinity County and Humboldt County Fish and Game Advisory Committees. These committees serve to advise the County Board of Supervisors on issues related to fish and game. Each year the Committees are allocated some fine monies from fish and game code violations. A request-for-proposal (RFP) goes out annually and small grants are awarded for fish or wildlife conservation or restoration projects.
The year 1993 was very eventful with regard to economic development activity in the Hayfork/South Fork Trinity River basin. President Clinton's Forest Plan has promised to bring substantial aid to rural communities impacted by the reduction in timber on public lands due to habitat protection for the northern spotted owl. The Trinity River Bioregional Group has focused on this opportunity and begun to focus on the South Fork Trinity River basin as a logical recipient of such funds. The following are some developments relating to this topic as this report is going to press:
* An application has gone forth from the Trinity County Resource Conservation District office to request that the county be declared a Resource Conservation and Development area. If favorably considered, the formation of an RC&D area would add at least one staff position to the Soil Conservation Service dedicated to South Fork Trinity restoration and economic development.
* The Trinity Task Force has requested an additional $10 million from Congress for the South Fork basin if the Trinity River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Program is re-authorized.
* The Trinity Task Force has shifted approximately $272,000 away from main stem Trinity River projects in fiscal year 1994 and into the South Fork Trinity River basin.
* The citizens of the basin are moving to form a Cooperative Resource Management Planning (CRMP) committee and part of the money allocated from the Trinity River Task Force has been allocated for hiring a CRMP staff person by June 1994.
* Numerous grant proposals have gone forth from the Hayfork area for assistance to establish Watershed Training Center and/or a job training center. Shasta Trinity National Forest has been instrumental in assisting with this proposal which could re-train woodsworkers to help with restoration.
* Option 9 funding will lead to the expenditure of $600,000 in the upper South Fork Trinity basin above Forest Glen in the summer of 1994. The USFS will attempt to sub-contract as much of the work to small local contractors as possible. Additional funding for restoration in succeeding years is anticipated.
A successful restoration program for South Fork Trinity River salmon and steelhead stocks will require diverse and continuing sources of funding. Many governmental aid programs, aimed at water and soil conservation, are available to willing private land owners. Monies from these sources can be used on projects which protect the productivity of farm lands and, at the same time, show significant benefits for fisheries.
Core funding for long term watershed rehabilitation on federal lands is already beginning as this report is printed. Future USFS initiatives, including revised riparian standards and protection measures aimed at "key watersheds," such as the South Fork Trinity River, can be focused on fisheries protection and restoration. Forest improvement funds for private land owners, available from the state and federal government, can be used to help improve silvicultural productivity and, in some cases, help meet some wildlife and fisheries restoration objectives.
Models, such as the CRMP on the East Branch of the North Fork Feather River, indicate that fisheries restoration can play a substantial role in helping with revitalization of a depressed, rural economy. Federal help for rural economic development is available through RC&D programs, and also through the newly formed RDA, and could help fund a much needed sewage treatment plant for the community of Hayfork. Both the above mechanisms are already being explored as this report is in its final stages of production. A new sewage treatment plant could help abate water quality problems in Hayfork Creek, and help with water conservation, especially if tertiary treated waste water were used for irrigation throughout the valley. If fisheries restoration is seen as a component of economic development, it has a much higher chance of being accepted in the local community.
Some restoration or monitoring activities may still be funded by traditional agency sources, but a successful restoration program will also tap volunteers as a way to help increase public involvement and decrease costs. Innovative strategies that include public participation also have greater appeal to foundation funding sources, which could help provide resources for some activities.References