Small-Scale Salmon Enhancement Little River, Humboldt County This project, started by Mitch Farro of the Trinidad Fishermen's Marketing Association, targeted one of the few stocks of short-run chinook salmon entering coastal streams. It was undertaken in cooperation with Louisiana Pacific Corporation, the major landowner in the Little River Basin. The portable hatchery facilities used were similar to those developed by the Eel River Project. The project operated for four years, successfully increasing chinook and coho runs into Little River. The Salmon Stamp funding for this program averaged $30,000 per year.   Hollow Tree Hatchery The Salmon Restoration Association (SRA) of Fort Bragg, in Mendocino County, was the pioneer private nonprofit cooperative salmon rearing group in California. Founded by Ray Welsh and Bill Grader, SRA has put on the annual "World's Largest Salmon Barbecue", which helps fund their salmon restoration projects, since 1972. In 1983 the Salmon Stamp Program funded construction of a permanent fish trap on Hollow Tree Creek to replace the inoperative weir, at a cost of $50,000. Since then the Stamp Committee has financially assisted the SRA hatchery operation at Hollow Tree Creek and a similar facility on Ten Mile River.   Mattole Salmon Stock Rescue Program The Mattole Watershed Salmon Support Group (MWSSG) has maintained a hatchbox and rearing program for native salmon stocks since 1980, resulting in the release of over 250,000 juvenile chinook salmon and 45,000 coho salmon into the Mattole River and its tributaries. The organization has also made habitat improvements in the river, including barrier modifications, spawning gravel recruitment, rearing habitat enhancements, revegetation, and erosion control. MWSSG has conducted education programs in local schools by operating incubators using native salmon eggs and releasing the salmon back into the river. The short-term goal of the Mattole Salmon Stock Rescue Program is to enhance native salmon stocks through artificial propagation, and in the long term, to restore damaged spawning and rearing habitat to achieve self-sustaining salmon runs. The Salmon Stamp has provided up to $30,000 annually to support this project.   Ten Mile River Salmon Enhancement Project Ten Mile River in Mendocino County empties into the ocean approximately ten miles north of Fort Bragg. The river system was once home to a significant population of coho salmon. During the 1970’s efforts began to remove barriers and establish a viable, naturally spawning salmon run by stocking the river with hatchery-reared chinook salmon for several years until natural spawning made the run self-sufficient. Ten Mile River Hatchery is located on a watershed owned by Georgia Pacific Timberland. To revive the coho salmon population, the Salmon Stamp Program invested in trapping native coho salmon broodstock in Big Bear Haven and Campbell Creek. The fish were trapped and spawned in weirs. Their progeny were held to fingerling size and released into their streams of origin during the following spring. The Ten Mile River Hatchery can raise and release 30,000 coho salmon. The project has met with mixed success, but its sponsors are dedicated and persistent, and they expect one day to achieve their salmon restoration goals.   Department of Fish and Game Technical Support At its first official meeting the Salmon Stamp Committee recommended funding to hire a DFG Fish Culturist to provide technical assistance to cooperative salmon rearing projects and to assist in bringing new Stamp-funded cooperative rearing projects online. The advisor travels throughout the state providing technical expertise and guidance to people with projects. The position was upgraded to Fish Hatchery Manager I at a present annual cost of approximately $75,000.   Eel River Project In 1983 Scott Downie, then a salmon troller, started a small-scale multi-pronged bioenhancement facility in the Eel River Basin. This successful program combines incubation and rearing with habitat improvement and an innovative educational element. Elementary, middle, and high school students are involved as part of the project, located at Redway in Humboldt County. The project’s participants made many innovations in trapping adult salmon and improvements in rearing technology. Salmon have been observed spawning in the restored habitat. Project costs have averaged $30,000 annually. Project releases have averaged around 100,000 smolts per year, with a combined release of over one million fish since the project’s inception. This was the first Salmon Stamp project to combine all the elements of recovery in one project. As part of the Eel River Restoration Project, the Stamp Program funded habitat improvements on Little Sproul Creek. Landslides which were contributing sediments to the Eel River were stabilized, and failing stream banks were armored with rip-rap to prevent further erosion. Deep pools and cover log structures were created to increase habitat for salmon.   Horse Linto Creek Natural Broodstock Salmon Restoration Project, Trinity River This innovative project was founded by PCFFA, DFG, and the U.S. Forest Service on a cooperative basis. It was intended to demonstrate the potential of lowcost, portable hatchery facilities to propagate wild salmon on-site in conjunction with restoration of spawning and rearing habitat. Once habitat restoration was complete and a viable run established, the project would be relocated to begin the process anew in a different drainage in need of a hatchery rearing “jump start” as part of its overall restoration. The concept for this project grew out of discussions at Salmon Stamp Committee meetings. Initial project costs were $50,000 annually and the project was implemented under PCFFA administration. After a difficult beginning and following many years of low returns, the project met with success, increasing the numbers of spawning salmon returning to Horse Linto Creek at a time when salmon populations in almost all other tributaries in the Klamath-Trinity Basin were declining. This project taught the salmon restoration industry a lot about what works and what doesn’t. The project was recognized as an outstanding success in a letter of commendation from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Follow-up monitoring will determine if the enhanced populations of salmon in Horse Linto Creek will stabilize at higher than pre-project levels.