Friends of the Eel River Notifies Humboldt County of Intent to Sue

Image of lower Eel River looking upstream. Blue sky contrasts the brown and green algae on the banks of the Eel River. The broad, shallow riffles on the left side of the photo as the river flows through a narrow pinchpoint (a point bar) and deepens near the center of the photo. Trees and mountains line the background.

Friends of the Eel River Notifies Humboldt County of Intent to Sue Conservation group demands Humboldt County protect fisheries and other public trust values in the lower Eel River Friends of the Eel River, a Eureka-based citizens’ group dedicated to protecting and restoring Eel River fisheries, has sent a formal letter to Humboldt County demanding … Read more

EcoNews Report Toxic Tires Killing Coho

 The EcoNews Report talks with guest Warner Chabot, ED of the San Francisco Estuary Institute, who gives us the scoop on breaking research into a toxic chemical from tires that is killing coho salmon at alarming rates. This research further emphasizes the importance of protecting the remaining coho salmon populations that are struggling to … Read more

FOER comments Marshall Ranch Streamflow Project

Humboldt County Planning Department 3015 H Street Eureka, CA 95501 Submitted via email to planningclerk@co.humboldt.ca.us Re: Friends of the Eel River Comments on Proposed Marshall Ranch Streamflow Enhancement Project Dear Planning Commissioners: Friends of the Eel River advocates for the protection and recovery of native fisheries in the Eel River watershed. Redwood Creek is one … Read more

Balancing the Russian River on the Back of the Eel River

How would you manage the Russian River for sustainable water supplies and restored fisheries with no water taken from the Eel River? By: David Keller, Bay Area Director, Friends of the Eel River. Originally published in The Eel River Reporter 2013 The people and agencies who manage the Russian River have been using water diverted … Read more

Coho vs. Pinot

In July, roughly 1,000 rural Sonoma County residents overflowed classrooms and small meeting chambers at five informational sessions convened by the State Water Resources Control Board. It would be hard to exaggerate many attendees’ outrage. At one meeting, two men got in a fistfight over whether to be “respectful” to the state and federal officials … Read more

Fall Member Letter 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014 Dear Friends of the Eel River, It never rains but it pours. Here on the rainforest coast, the old saw often invokes less the classic series of unfortunate events than the fact that crisis and opportunity sometimes come, like our rain, by the bucket. After three long years of the most … Read more

Coho Recovery Plan Addresses Marijuana-Related Impacts

A long-anticipated federal recovery plan for coho salmon in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon[1] was released in its final form this September. The plan says the continuing decline of the South Fork Eel River’s population of coho must be reversed, and the watershed’s runs recovered, to meet the Endangered Species Act’s  goal of protecting the … Read more

Drying Times are Trying Times for Eel River Fish

By: Scott Greacen Originally published by Econews, June 2014 Serial Variance Requests Reveal Vulnerability of Eel River Fisheries to Demands from Russian River Irrigators The Eel River’s surviving salmonids—chinook, coho, and steelhead—are struggling to come back from near-extinction. Good returns from 2010 to 13, particularly for chinook, felt like recovery might be getting underway. Unfortunately, … Read more