Upcoming Speakers: September 28, 2015, Beaver Specialist Mary Tappel, “Beaver Management in the Age of Anadromy” SARSAS General Meeting Agenda for MONDAY, August 24, 2015 (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) 175 Fulweiler Avenue (the Domes), Auburn, CA 95603

Upcoming Speakers: September 28, 2015, Beaver Specialist Mary Tappel, “Beaver Management in the Age of Anadromy” SARSAS General Meeting Agenda for MONDAY, August 24, 2015 (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) 175 Fulweiler Avenue (the Domes), Auburn, CA 95603 Contact: SARSAS President Jack Sanchez at 530-888-0281, VP Gary Mapa will conduct meetings when Jack’s away. jlsanchez39@gmail.com Meetings are Fourth Monday of each month at 10-11 a.m. Meetings are held to one hour in length ending at 11 a.m. I. Self- introductions and sign-ins. II. SARSAS Philosophy – We believe by working together with many individuals and agencies at the same table, we can achieve the mission of SARSAS, which is to return salmon and steelhead to the entire 33 mile length of the Auburn Ravine III. Featured speaker for August 24, 2015, Loren Clark, Assistant Director - Community Development Resource Agency, “An Update of the Placer County Conservation Plan and an Overview of the Plan’s Biological Goals and Objectives for Salmonids in West Placer”, BIOGRAPHY -B.S. Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation, Humboldt State University, 1984. Employed with the Planning Department and Community Development Resource Agency (CDRA) for nearly 28 years. Experiences in Placer County include a range of advance and current planning activities throughout unincorporated Placer County and administrative support for CDRA. Advance Planning Assist with the development and management of advance planning programs including the development and implementation of: 1) the Placer Legacy Open Space and Agricultural Conservation Program, 2) the Placer County General Plan and 3) the Placer County Conservation Plan or PCCP Curent Planning Assist with the management of the Community Development Resource Agency’s current land development activities including environmental review, discretionary project review, design/site plan review and project implementation. Agency Administration Assist with the budget and program development, personnel, and general administrative duties for CDRA and its divisions including Planning Services, Engineering & Surveying and Building. Upcoming Speakers: Upcoming Speakers: September 28, 2015, Beaver Specialist Mary Tappel, “Beaver Management in the Age of Anadromy” Biography Mary Tappel was born and reared in Davis; Mary was introduced to beaver and beaver’s fascinating behavior as a teenager canoeing on Putah Creek in evenings with family; beaver became the wildlife stars for her family. Mary completed a Botany degree at UC Davis with an emphasis in native plants, with much zoology and plant science added. A few years later Mary assisted with Putah Creek Streamway proposals, mapped beaver dams on the same creek over about 15 miles, noticed relative wildlife augmentations apparently associated with ‘beaver ponds’ (beaver can act as ‘keystone’ species at low population densities in somewhat impoverished environments), and she also researched ‘beaver lore’ for the first time Mary observed beaver works periodically also in the Sierra Nevada on backpacking and hiking trips over next two decades plus; besides local creek casual observations, Mary noted different environmental impacts – downed and dead trees, etc. And then Mary became an Environmental Scientist for the State Water Agencies along the way, first for the Dept. of Water Resources; now for over 20 years Mary has been with the State Water Board. Sometime after going down to half time at her professional job, Mary volunteered in north Sacramento area to assist in managing beaver into less damaging role with new techniques (starting a little over a decade ago). Mary then quickly became employed for such purposes as a (Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency) SAFCA consultant; working to protect young riparian mitigation plantings from too much beaver pruning. This effort was to allow the new riparian stands of trees to become successfully established. As a result a collaborative group was organized and further refined, which developed more innovative, non-toxic, low cost (with volunteer labor) beaver management techniques. These techniques were applied to the lower American River Parkway (5 years) and in the City of Sacramento’s 12 miles of north area streams – the City Ueda Parkway (6 years). Mary also dealt with beaver management questions and in foothill areas such as Granite Bay, Loomis, & Roseville; and towards the Bay/Delta area in Fairfield & Martinez, and to the south in Elk Grove, all in creeks and small retention basins. Mary’s involvement in foothill areas and smaller streams has always included salmonid passage concerns. In summary, nearly all beaver dams she observed regionally can be traveled over by salmonids in fall/winter seasons after heavy rains, although some beaver dams described to her were larger relative to the maximum stream size, apparently, and were said to interfere with salmonid passage. October 26, 2015, Jack and Beverly Sales, “Dark Skies and Salmon” November 23, 2015, Peter Moyle, “Details of Reconciliation Ecology for Auburn Ravine Salmon” December 28, 2015, Rich Marovich, Streamkeeper, Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committeel, “Cure for Cementation of Spawning Gravels: Excavator Scarification in the Absence of Scouring Flows”, Rich has been Streamkeeper since 2000, leading complex and cooperative projects to protect the resources of Lower Putah Creek. He has won over $12 million in competitive grants for physical and biological studies, community planning and habitat enhancement projects including: abating and deterring trespass and illegal dumping; controlling invasive weeds; stabilizing eroding banks; restoring natural channel form and function; and establishing native vegetation. He also manages a native plant nursery staffed with community volunteers. His prior experience includes 28 years with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (part time since 2000) leading a statewide program to protect listed species from pesticide exposure. He obtained a B.S. in Plant Science (Horticulture) from U.C. Davis in 1978. January 25, 2016 Ken Davis invited to speak Bio - KEN DAVIS, Aquatic Biologist / Wildlife photojournalist Ken Davis was born and raised in Chico California. His family spent many weekends fishing in Deer, Battle, and Burney Creeks. According to his father, Ken didn’t start off too well in the fishing world. Milton Davis loved to tell the story about young Ken’s bait typically ending up high-and-dry on a rock while he intently watched the American Dippers “dance” on nearby rocks. In his defense, Ken thought the Water Ouzels were magical. Maybe that was the beginning of a wonderful career in biology. Aquatic biologist: Ken has thirty years of experience in designing invasive species survey programs, aquatic invertebrate biology and taxonomy, plankton collection and identification. He is currently the lead biologist on several invasive species survey projects including monitoring New Zealand Mudsnails in Putah Creek and Quagga Mussel surveys in Lake Solano and throughout the Solano Project. He has under contract to develop an innovative project to document the fish of Putah Creek with subsurface video surveillance. That project has been instrumental is capturing video and still images of spawning Chinook salmon in Lower Putah Creek. Wildlife Photojournalist: Ken’s photo career started when he was a triage medic in Viet Nam. During a short medical excursion to Tokyo, he purchased his first 35mm camera. Beginning in 1983, his photos were represented by Tom Stack and Associates an international photo agency. His images have been published in over 4000 different periodicals, encyclopedias, newspapers, and textbooks that include: National Geographic, Wildlife Conservation, Zoobooks, Sports Afield, American Angler, Montana Magazine, and the Flyfisher. Two editors claim that Ken is possibly the premiere aquatic invertebrate photographer in the business. He is the primary owner of Wildlife Survey & Photo Service and Creekman which is a multimedia production company that uses professional photography, video and art for education, documentation and Public Relations. February 22, 2016, Jeff Tooker and Rick Hitchcock, Placer Union High School District Administrators, "Next Generation Science Standards for Placer Union High School District" March 28, 2016, John Sikora, El Dorado Chapter of Trout Unlimited, VP, “Unlimited Options on How Trout Unlimited can work with SARSAS” April 2016, Chris Shutes, C-SPA TBA May 22, 2016 TBA

Organization Formed to Stop NID's Centennial Dam on Bear River

http://www.noparkerdam.com/

GROUP ORGANIZED IN OPPOSITION TO NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT'S CENTENNIAL DAM ON BEAR RIVER. http://www.noparkerdam.com/Stop Centennial Project - Parker Dam! Stop Parker Dam/noparkerdam.com Please copy link and paste into Google. Thanks

NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT (NID) IS HOLDING SALMON HOSTAGE AT HEMPHILL DAM TO AVOID CORRECTING NINE WATER RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THE STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD HAS DIRECTED NID TO CORRECT

NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT (NID) IS HOLDING SALMON HOSTAGE AT HEMPHILL DAM TO AVOID CORRECTING NINE WATER RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THE STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD HAS DIRECTED NID TO CORRECT Salmon are being held hostage by NID to pressure Foothill Water District (FWN) of which SARSAS is a member to withdraw its formal protest against NID to correct these nine water rights violations. New NID General Manager Remleh Scherzinger wrote: “Some have asked what our plan is for this site [Hemphill Dam] and that is a great question. We are currently negotiating with the Foothill Water Network regarding a filing with the State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) and Hemphill is caught in that process. I would imagine that as soon as those talks are complete we would begin working on a long-term solution to our problem.” He is clearing telling FWN to withdraw its protest in return for fish passage on Hemphill Dam. He is using salmon as a political ploy, hoping he does not need to correct these nine water rights violations. And there is no need for “a long term solution to our problem”. Fish passage at Hemphill could easily and quickly be corrected at a reasonable cost; talking of “a long term solution” is also a political ploy to magnify the extent of the fish passage project or dam removal. Chris Shutes, CSPA and Negotiator for FWN, wrote: “People have asked and opined about this, and I’d like to provide my own perspective. In 2009, the State Water Board (SWRCB) posted a notice that NID was petitioning to amend 9 of its water right permits and 4 of its water right licenses. Over the years, NID operations and facilities had changed, and the permits and licenses no longer accurately described them. The stated purpose of the petitions was to line up the language in the permits and licenses with current facilities and operations. The Foothills Water Network, a coalition of environmental groups which includes SARSAS and my organization, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), protested NID’s petitions. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Services also protested (it wasn’t just the Network and its member groups).” None of these nine water rights violations, all flagrants degradations of the environment, has been corrected. Now NID cavalierly is asking the waterboard for permission to build yet another dam, Centennial Dam, on the highly negatively impacted Bear River. It is a sad commentary on NID’s callous disregard for salmon and the environment of Auburn Ravine to see that salmon have become a pawn in NID’s negotiating process to avoid correcting its nine water rights violations. Former NID General Manager Ron Nelson worked for eight year to improve NID’s soiled image and had some success. New General Manager and leadership has done much to return NID to its former status as a maverick water contractor. Incredibly, remember, NID has spent over $488,000 in August just on filing fees for its $160,000,000 proposed Parker Dam Project on Bear River designed to increase gigantically its bottom line at the expense once again of the environment. If NID ignores its environment responsibilities on Auburn Ravine, why should be given additional dams to operate? NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT (NID) IS HOLDING SALMON HOSTAGE AT HEMPHILL DAM TO AVOID CORRECTING NINE WATER RIGHTS VIOLATIONS THE STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD HAS DIRECTED NID TO CORRECT Salmon are being held hostage by NID to pressure Foothill Water District (FWN) of which SARSAS is a member to withdraw its formal protest against NID to correct these nine water rights violations. New NID General Manager Remleh Scherzinger wrote: “Some have asked what our plan is for this site [Hemphill Dam] and that is a great question. We are currently negotiating with the Foothill Water Network regarding a filing with the State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) and Hemphill is caught in that process. I would imagine that as soon as those talks are complete we would begin working on a long-term solution to our problem.” He is clearing telling FWN to withdraw its protest in return for fish passage on Hemphill Dam. He is using salmon as a political ploy, hoping he does not need to correct these nine water rights violations. And there is no need for “a long term solution to our problem”. Fish passage at Hemphill could easily and quickly be corrected at a reasonable cost; talking of “a long term solution” is also a political ploy to magnify the extent of the fish passage project or dam removal. Chris Shutes, CSPA and Negotiator for FWN, wrote: “People have asked and opined about this, and I’d like to provide my own perspective. In 2009, the State Water Board (SWRCB) posted a notice that NID was petitioning to amend 9 of its water right permits and 4 of its water right licenses. Over the years, NID operations and facilities had changed, and the permits and licenses no longer accurately described them. The stated purpose of the petitions was to line up the language in the permits and licenses with current facilities and operations. The Foothills Water Network, a coalition of environmental groups which includes SARSAS and my organization, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), protested NID’s petitions. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Services also protested (it wasn’t just the Network and its member groups).” None of these nine water rights violations, all flagrants degradations of the environment, has been corrected. Now NID cavalierly is asking the waterboard for permission to build yet another dam, Centennial Dam, on the highly negatively impacted Bear River. It is a sad commentary on NID’s callous disregard for salmon and the environment of Auburn Ravine to see that salmon have become a pawn in NID’s negotiating process to avoid correcting its nine water rights violations. Former NID General Manager Ron Nelson worked for eight year to improve NID’s soiled image and had some success. New General Manager and leadership has done much to return NID to its former status as a maverick water contractor. Incredibly, remember, NID has spent over $488,000 in August just on filing fees for its $160,000,000 proposed Parker Dam Project on Bear River designed to increase gigantically its bottom line at the expense once again of the environment. If NID ignores its environment responsibilities on Auburn Ravine, why should it be given additional dams to operate?