Zoom 1 Sessions
The Eel River Recovery Project presented our Zoom Series 1 in the spring of 2021. You can watch them by following the links below. Eel Zoom is supported by a Cereus Fund grant.
Watch Eel River Zoom 1 Sessions from Spring, 2021
Zoom #1 - Fish
Zoom #2 - Forest Health
Zoom #3 - Cyanobacteria
Zoom #4 - Lower Eel Salmon Parkway
Zoom #6 - Pikeminnow
Zoom #7 - Eel River Flow
Zoom #8 - North Fork Eel River
Secret Lives of Eel River Fishes Revealed - Watch Zoom #1
ERRP Managing Director Pat Higgins would rather be under water.
ERRP Managing Director Pat Higgins is also a fisheries biologist and has been underwater all over the Eel River basin photo and video documenting fish since 2010. He is a fun presenter and he wants to share the good, the bad and the ugly. Videos of hundreds of Chinook salmon schooling at the mouth of the Middle Fork, swarms of coho juveniles in upper South Fork refugia, huge pikeminnow lying in wait to ambush native fish juveniles, territorial green sunfish dancing, and even balling catfish. Along the way, Pat will address the status and trends of Pacific salmon species and what we can do to help them have a better chance of survival in the face of climate change. See the Eel River underwater from your couch as we kick off Eel Zoom at 5 PM on Friday, April 9. Don’t miss it!
improving forest and grassland health - Watch Zoom #2
Tech whiz Tim Bailey and Tribal elder Ernie Merrifield share perspectives on forest health.
Forest health has become the issue of our time. In the face of climate change, ERRP wants to organize basinwide forest health planning and implementation to make the Eel River basin a carbon sink. Learn from Tim Bailey how technology can help us learn more about forests and assist us in planning. Luckily, we have traditional ecological knowledge about how Native Americans made the land more productive and kept themselves safe from catastrophic fire. Listen to Ernie Merrifield talk about the practices of his ancestors and how we can restore Harmony. Pat Higgins will talk about how forest health and grassland health impacts Eel River flows and fish.
Eel River Toxic Cyanobacteria - Watch Zoom #3
Keith Bouma-Gregson giving workshop on cyanobacteria at Tooby Park on SF Eel. 6/27/14.
Keith Bouma-Gregson led ERRP volunteers from 2013 through 2016 in studying cyanobacteria and his Dissertation that summarized findings earned him a PhD from UC Berkeley. He is now lead State Water Resources Control Board staff person dealing with state-wide harmful algae blooms. Rich Fadness of the North Coast Water Board is also an Eel River cyanobacteria expert and will talk about lesser known toxic species. Scientist Michael Thomas has recently joined Rich at the North Coast Water Board and will be taking over Eel River algae studies. Welcome aboard Michael! Ask the experts about toxic cyanobacteria, or maybe just open a beer or pour a glass of wine and relax and learn from Eel Zoom.
Lower Eel River Parkway - Watch Zoom #4
Meeting with Resources Agency, Fortuna City staff and stakeholders about possible new park near River Lodge. 1/31/19.
We have been alarmed about the condition of the lower Eel River and its ability to support adult fall Chinook salmon. Shallow, algae-filled pools with fish sitting in the sun is taking its toll yearly and poses the risk of a massive fish kill. Learn about how we could fix the lower Eel River habitat and also get an awesome trail to connect people to the river and improve community health and quality of life. The Lower Eel River Salmon Parkway concept includes processed based restoration that helps the river heal itself and Pat Higgins will talk about how cottonwood gallery forests could rejuvenate salmon habitat. A trail along the lower Eel River could be one of the first priority segments of Senator McGuire’s Great Redwood Trail, if the community organizes. Fortuna’s City Manager Merritt Perry is a big trails fan and will present on how the concept fits into the City’s recreational plans. Wiyot Tribe Natural Resources Director Adam Canter will talk about the Tribe’s connection to the lower Eel River and support for this concept. There is a need for a Friends of the Lower Eel River Salmon Parkway. Call Pat, if you want to help make it happen (707 223-7200).
May 7 - Upper Eel River Salmon Park - Watch Zoom #5
The upper Eel River between the Potter Valley Project (PVP) dams is impaired with regard to salmon spawning and rearing habitat as a result of 100 years of hydropower operation and needs to be restored, whether Scott Dam comes out or remains as part of the on-going relicensing process. There is a semi-abandoned road on the south bank of the Eel River between the dams and ERRP envisions a trail there, with campgrounds at Pioneer Bridge and at the mouth of Soda Creek. Old growth between the dams on PG&E lands is a treasure, but it may not last if forest health measures are not implemented. PG&E wants to abandon the PVP and the thousands of acres they own are dedicated to conservation, restoration and recreation as their only allowable uses as a result of a Settlement Agreement. Our concept is to transfer PG&E land to the Mendocino National Forest and get them a budget to manage for recreation, restoration and conservation of the area between the dams. Pat Higgins will give an overview. Potter Valley Tribal Environmental Protection Agency Director Gregg Young will present on economic development plans for lands in the PVP area deeded to them as part of the Settlement Agreement. Robin Leler of the Mendocino Group of the Redwood Chapter Sierra Club will show slides and movies from “Go Wild” field trips she led to the Upper Eel River Salmon Parkway area.
Controlling the Invasive Pikeminnow - Watch Zoom #6
Pikeminnow are increasing with drought years. 7/15/20
Anglers and many aware residents of the Eel River watershed do not like the introduced, predatory Sacramento pikeminnow and would like to see them controlled in order to allow native fish to recover. Pat Higgins will talk about pikeminnow trends in South Fork Eel River index reach ERRP has been monitoring since 2016. Stillwater Sciences fisheries biologist Abel Brumo assists the Wiyot Tribe in experimental pikeminnow control and will talk about the history and future of that effort. Bureau of Land Management fish biologist Zane Ruddy strays far from the Arcata Field Office to monitor pikeminnow in the North Fork Eel River. He will share stunning photos and an interesting biological story. These fish shouldn’t be in the Eel River and it is our moral obligation that we do more to control them. Zoom-in and find out how. “Like it or not, we are in charge of evolution” – Julian Huxley.
How Watersheds Work and Flow Changes Over Time -Watch Zoom # 7
Elder Creek meets the SF Eel on the Angelo Reserve. 11/2/20
Dr. David Dralle is part of the Angelo Reserve Critical Zone Observatory study team and he will talk about how watershed water storage works and how geology effects flow in the Eel River watershed. Eli Asarian of Riverbend Sciences will recap the findings of his Eel River flow study sponsored by Friends of Eel River. Zoom in to find out how flows have changed over time and consider hypotheses that explain the patterns. Why are some reaches of the river “losing streams” when they used to be “gaining”? Why would Bull Creek in Humboldt Redwoods State Park have half the flow of 1950, when there is no development or diversions and few residents?
North Fork Eel River - Sign up for Zoom
Thomas Keter (center) on NF Eel field trip in oak grove being invaded by Douglas fir. 6/26/18.
Fasten your seat belt and open your mind as retired archaeologist Thomas Keter takes you on a journey to the 286 square mile North Fork Eel River watershed, and also through time from before European contact right up to the present. In his career for Six Rivers National Forest, he not only studied the archaeology and history of the North Fork, he walked thousands of miles to help “ground truth” the first GIS vegetation surveys. He will tell how he discovered that Douglas fir was growing out of control because of the cessation of Indian burning, killing oak groves, invading meadows and encroaching on springs. The North Fork with fewer than 200 residents, a Wilderness Area, and a Key Watershed under the Northwest Forest Plan, was drying up, due to increased fir evapotranspiration and altered watershed hydrology. Then came the fires. Tom will tell you what is in store for the watershed in the future, which depends a lot on how we respond. Don’t miss the last in the Eel Zoom series
ZOOM Series 2
Our Friday Happy Hour Eel Zoom II series ran from October 15 through November 19. Watch them now and learn about the Eel River and work being done restore its forests, grasslands, watersheds, wildlife and fish.
Watch Eel River Salmon Run Trends
Watch Thomas Keeter Zoom here
Watch Forest Health Zoom here
Watch Restoring Native Grasslands
Watch Restoring Riparian Zones Using Bioengineering