Monthly Meeting September 8th - Southern Steelhead Recovery Efforts

Southern Steelhead Recovery Efforts 2015

By Debbie Sharpton, Conservation VP

Southwest Council Federation of Fly Fishers

The recent Steelhead Summit in Ventura provided some pretty sombering news - fish counts of adults entering streams to spawn in the area no way support the continuing use of the fact there are 500 adults in existence. This year there were only 5 that entered Malibu Creek to spawn, a stream with a decent sized lagoon to transition from the salt water to fresh.

Recent efforts to recover the southern steelhead from the brink of extinction include the removal of Rindge Dam on Malibu Creek. California State Parks owns the land and the dam, and have been working with stakeholders for many years to get it torn down, opening up many miles of spawning and rearing habitat for the steelhead.

Debbie Sharpton, Conservation VP for the SWC-IFFF, is also the executive director of Mountains Restoration Trust, a public benefit land trust in the Santa Monica Mountains (MRT). A South Bay native, Debbie’s career in the land development and preservation industry began over 30 years ago with master planned communities, transitioning into preservation in the late 1980’s. Since 2001 Debbie has worked for MRT spearheading stream restoration, water quality, habitat and aquatic invasive species projects in the Santa Monica and Los Angeles River watersheds. A stakeholder in the steelhead recovery project, Debbie will give an informational presentation, courtesy of CA State Parks, on the Rindge Dam removal project.

Come join us at 7pm for this informative program on Steelhead recovery in Southern California!