by Chris Larson
November 20, 2002

Many Mattole headwaters residents have been closely watching the road removal project in and around the Sanctuary Forest, the largest project of its kind in the Mattole. The project brings long-term benefits to the salmon by reducing sedimentation of the Mattole headwaters, but some people are concerned about the short-term impacts of the heavy equipment work. We asked some of the involved parties for their thoughts on the project:

Richard Gienger, Mattole headwaters resident and Humboldt Watershed Council member: Despite being a very large project -- with too many sites planned to be done over too short a period of time -- most of the work that has been done this season has been of the highest quality. All of the crossing sites done this summer and early fall, about 60, will be monitored this rainy season…We'll know a lot more about the process, the impacts, and what changes may need to be implemented come Spring.

Gary Flosi, California Department of Fish and Game: The Mattole headwaters is the best remaining fish habitat in the Mattole Watershed. DFG supports the sediment reduction project in Sancturary Forest and would like to encourage road assessment, improvement and decommissioning throught the basin to reduce sediment delivery to the Mattole River and its tributaries.

Eric Goldsmith, Sanctuary Forest, Inc.: The most important lesson is to let the needs of the watershed dictate how best to proceed with the work and that means listening and being open to as many perspectives as possible. We would have benefitted by having more community meetings earlier in the process.
Many neighbors are supportive, others have a wait and see attitude, and some are skeptical. It's been a challenge to communicate the long term benefits from road decomissioning work because of the obvious short term impacts, like downed trees and exposed soils, related to opening up the old roads in order to remove them.
Ray Lingel, Mattole Salmon Group: I expect more projects like this in the future. Roads, abandoned or not, are serious contributors of sediment into the Mattole. We have to find the means to address the road issues as quickly as possible, while proceeding at a careful and measured pace in relation to both the community and the environment.

The health of headwaters of the Mattole is essential to the health of the entire river. Only there do coho find the clean water and gravel they need for spawning, and the cool water and complex habitat they
require for the year they spend in the river after hatching. The most successful Chinook and steelhead spawning also takes place in the headwaters where the river is least likely to destroy their eggs during
major storms.



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Read more articles about Restoration Projects

Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 19 - Winter/Spring 2002-03