Saturday, April 30, 2016

May 23, 2016 SAVE AUBURN RAVINE SALMON AND STEELHEAD (SARSAS, Inc.) 501C3. Public Benefit Corporation with Employer Identification Number 80-0291680 General Meeting (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)

May 23, 2016 SAVE AUBURN RAVINE SALMON AND STEELHEAD (SARSAS, Inc.) 501C3. Public Benefit Corporation with Employer Identification Number 80-0291680 General Meeting (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) 175 Fulweiler Avenue (the Domes) , Auburn, CA 95603 - 10 a. m. Contact: SARSAS President Jack Sanchez at 530-888-0281 or VP Gary Mapa (530 320-9097), who 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. Please be prompt. 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 Speakers are asked to bring their own laptops if possible loaded with their Presentation. III. Featured Speaker, May 23, 2016, Mary Tappel, “Beavers: Denning and Lodging- How Beavers Live” 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. IV. June 27, 2016, Heidi Perryman, “Beaver Restoration of Urban Creeks” Dr. Perryman formed Worth A Dam to defend the beavers in her home town of Martinez CA. Along the way she became interested in helping other cities learn how and why to co-exist with beavers. Since 2008 she has organized an annual beaver festival that has inspired similar efforts in 5 states and Canada. As California faces more drought years, she believes it is more important than ever to coexist with these important 'water savers'. In addition to the beaver festival, Worth A Dam does several community outreach and education programs a year, including field trips and class room visits. In 2010 they awarded their first scholarship in beaver management to advocates in Tahoe. In 2011 Dr. Perryman presented at the state of the beaver conference in Oregon, and the State parks conference in Yosemite. She collaborated with beaver management expert Michael Callahan of Massachusetts to help release an instructional DVD teaching how to live with beavers (featuring footage of the Martinez Beavers). Most recently she worked with a historian, archaeologist and biologist to publish groundbreaking research on the western fur trade and the original prevalence of beavers in California - a subject that has been surprisingly misunderstood for a nearly a century Beavers and their dams create wetlands, store and filter water, augment fish populations, raise the number of migratory and songbirds, and have a dramatic positive impact on wildlife. Dr. Perryman feels that working to help people understand and coexist with this single species will continue to have a dramatic trickle-down impact on the environment in general. V. July 25, 2016, Burke White, invited to speak VI. August 22, 2016, Open. Bio: Darryl Hayes has been working as the Engineering Manager at Intake Screens, Inc. in Sacramento, CA, for the past 8 years. He has over 20 years’ experience working on fish protection and passage systems over his career. Prior to working at ISI, he was a senior consultant at CH2M HILL and also the former Fish Facilities Chief at the California Department of Water Resources. VII. September 26, 2016, Jeff Parks, Water Resources Control Engineer, Invited to speak. VIII. October 24, 2016 – Pamela Creedon, Executive Officer of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board, Pamela Creedon is the Executive Officer of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. She is a licensed Civil Engineer and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer with nearly 35 years of professional experience, including over 23 years of experience in both the public and private sector developing and implementing water quality regulatory programs. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, Sacramento. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Tau Beta Pi. She serves on the American Society of Civil Engineers National Energy, Environment and Water Policy Committee and the CSU Sacramento Environmental and Water Resources Advisory Committee. She is a Vice-Chair of the Sacramento Chapter of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (SCEWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is a member of the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Estuary Institute Aquatic Science Center. IX. November 28, 2016, JoAnna Lessard, Garcia Associates, “Efficient Rainwater Collecting” Bio: Dr. Joanna Lessard is a stream ecologist with over 15 years of combined experience carrying out research and consulting on many topics related to aquatic ecology and aquatic resource management. She obtained BS and MS degrees from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University, during which she conducted research on the temperature effects of small dams on cold-water fish and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. She received a PhD from the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, studying the resource subsidy impacts of marine-derived nutrients from spawning salmon on aquatic insect communities in Southeast Alaska. Following her graduate studies she spent two years with the Center for Ecological Studies in Maryland consulting for the US Environmental Protection Agency on its national biological monitoring initiatives. Following that work she moved to San Francisco to join Garcia and Associates (GANDA), focusing on studies on the biological impacts of hydropower and flow changes associated with relicensing on state and federally listed species of fish and amphibians. In 2007, under a GANDA contract, she was appointed to the Trinity River Science Advisory Board. In 2009 she accepted a research position with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand and joined their Water Allocation and Environmental Flow Programs. Her work in New Zealand focused on catchment-scale management of surface and groundwater quantity and quality in conjunction with landuse management. She was a technical advisor to Environment Canterbury for several high profile stakeholder groups formed to develop management objectives for highly allocated catchments. She rejoined GANDA in 2014 and is working out of the Auburn Office to provide technical assistance and project management on aquatic and water resource issues in California. She is currently working with Nevada City on their Drought Implementation Plan and Water Conservation Programs. X. Tuesday, December 20, 2016 – Peter Moyle invited to speak XI. January 23, 2017 – Rich Marovich, “Update on the Putah Creek Restoration” Biography: Rich has been Stream keeper 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. XII. February 27, 2017 – John Hannon, USBR invited to speak XIII. March 27, 2017 – March 27, 2017 – Ken Davis, confirmed -Topic TBA IVX. April 24, 2017 - Darryl Hayes, ISI. “Final Installation of Dual Cone Fish Screen on Pleasant Grove Canal”, Invited