Month: March 2018

volunteer

Volunteer Opportunity: FoLAR’s river cleanup returns with three April dates
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THIS EVENT is a blast, one I’ve participated in several times. As always, the river needs our help. (Courtesy Friends of the Los Angeles River)

From FoLAR

On Saturday, April 14, join the 29th LA River CleanUp UPPER RIVER by signing up now!  Last year, over 10,000 volunteers–individuals and groups from all ages and backgrounds–demonstrated their passion for the LA River by joining the Friends of LA River annual CleanUp.

The 2018 FoLAR CleanUp will be held at nine sites along the river, on April 14, 21 and 28, from 9 a.m. to noon with different locations on each date. Volunteers will receive a FoLAR reusable tote bag and FoLAR t-shirt, and other goodies, have access to entertainment and the LA River Rover mobile visitor and education center.

This year, FoLAR is also coordinating efforts with LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority) to increase the safety and awareness toward cleaning the river and respecting homeless population in the riverbed.  To register or get more information please, click here.

Events, News

TU receives $20K for ‘Vamos a Pescar’ program
Off Tha' Hook
ONE OF 2015’S WINNERS Issaih Salgado, then-15, of Palmdale (left) hangs with event organizer Bill Bowling. (Jim Burns)

And now for some gloom-free news: For all of you who have sorely missed FoLAR’s “Off Tha Hook” fishing throwback on the LA River, rejoice:

Trout Unlimited’s South Coast Chapter, based in OC, has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide instruction, equipment, and support for local families to participate in a series of fishing outings on the Los Angeles River this year, according to the TU website.

The funding for this grant comes from the George H. W. Bush Vamos a Pescar Education Fund administered by the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. The Vamos a Pescar initiative is focused on engaging Hispanic families in fishing, boating, and conservation activities.

As a consultant on “Off Tha Hook,”  I’m super excited kids will once again have a structured way to engage our river and catch the passion we all love. My favorite memories of the three fishing throwback years were of kids — kids rushing down the rip-rap to get to the water; kids learning how to knot a hook on a line; kids wondering where in the heck all the fish went; and — blam — kids hooking up on possibly the first fish of their young lives.

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TROUT UNLIMITED’S Bob Blankenship meets the official greeter during the last “Off Tha Hook” in 2016. (Jim Burns).

As TU chapter president Robert Blankenship, who was instrumental in “Off Tha Hook”  along with FoLAR co-founder Lewis MacAdams and former all-star-staffer William Preston Bowling, said in that same post:

“In an increasingly wired world, fishing encourages Americans young and old to discover and connect with the nature around us, even in highly urbanized settings such as the greater Los Angeles area. This grant funding will allow us to introduce dozens of kids and adults to the wonders of fishing who may never have had such opportunity.”

Events begin in May, including one on a no-fishing-license-required day, July 7. Read the post for more information.

See you on the river, Jim Burns

Ecology

East Fork SOS: Where Have all the Fish and Anglers Gone?
Mining hole 30 feet long x 20 feet wide x 15 feet deep.
Miners’ Rock and Concrete Hut.
Undercut old-growth Alder trees.
Battery used for dredging equipment. (Photos courtesy of FRVC)

By Tom Walsh
President, Fisheries Resource Volunteer Corps

Repetitive comments from anglers, who have fished the East Fork of the San Gabriel River over the past five years, have indicated that there are no fish left. Based on 1,261 CDFW Angler Surveys over the past 15 years, anglers reported catching 10,901 fish. However, during the past five years only 777 fish have been caught, with only 11 being caught in the past two years.

What are the reasons for this significant decrease? Over the past five-to-12 years there are a number of events that have contributed to the loss of this fishery:

— 2005 – Twelve-year drought reduced total rainfall by 43.6 inches (3.6 inches/year) below 140-year season average.
— 2008 – Downturn in the economy brought an increase in encampments to the East Fork backcountry.
— 2008 – Price of gold hit all time high increasing from $769/oz. in 2007 to a high of $1,987/oz. in 2011.
— 2008 – Began removal of 20,000 tamarisk plants (One plant consumes up to 200 gallons of water per day)
— 2010 – California Department of Fish and Wildlife terminated fish plants on East and West forks to abide with court ruling.
— 2014 – High rain event on Aug. 3 bought significant amount of sediment downstream with large fish kill.

Of all of these events, the mining activity has been the most damaging, which has increased significantly, with the rise in gold prices, the promotion by mining guides via social media and the lack of enforcement of the mining prohibition.

The negative impacts to the stream and its riparian areas resulting from the mining activities are numerous. Large amounts of material in the stream and riparian areas are being moved to create dams, dredging holes and long diversion channels for sluicing, resulting in heavy silting, reduction in water flow and the interruption of the entire ecosystem. FRVC volunteer stream patrols have documented the loss old growth trees along the stream banks, permanent campsites within 50 to 100 feet of the stream, large amounts of equipment and trash from abandoned campsites, and the use of motorized dredging equipment.

In October 2010, the California Fish and Game Commission designated the East Fork from Heaton Flat to the headwaters as a Wild and Heritage Trout Stream. This designation includes 33.6 miles of perennial stream habitat, and is one of only 12 watersheds in the state with this designation. Unfortunately, the CDFW management plan has not been published or implemented.

This once-prominent fishery, which has been abandoned by almost everyone, needs the support of the Southern California fishing community.