16 Oct . 27 - Nov . 10 , 2017 VOL . 36 • ISS . 23

denied endangered species protection to the winter-run Chinook salmon that for many thousands of years spawned in the McCloud River that drains the Mount Shasta Glacier .

Hal Bonslett , the late founder and publisher of the Fish Sniffer , and I were there at the meeting in Sacramento on a crusade to stop the extinction of the fish , a unique Chinook subspecies that may have once numbered in the millions , but even as late as 1969 , numbered over

The mouth of the Feather River is one of the most popular spots for anglers to target salmon every summer and fall . Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .

117,0000 spawning adults .

The Department of Fish and Game Director at the time , Pete Bontadelli , argued that the population “ was relatively stable over ” the previous four years .

But as Bonslett testified , the alleged “ relatively stable ” population at the time was only two-tenths of one percent what the winter run population was 20 years before .

A small but vocal and passionate group , including Chuck De Journette of the Tehama Fly Fishers and John Merz , then the executive director of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust , Bonslett and I argued before the Commission to put the fish on the state endangered species to prevent it from going extinct , but to no avail .

However , we kept going to the Commission meetings and working on the federal level for the listing of the winter run Chinook as endangered . Hal and I wrote one editorial after another calling for the designation .

We finally succeeded on the state level later that year when the fish was listed as “ endangered .” The National Marine Fisheries Service also listed the winter run as “ threatened ,” five years after the agency received the petition calling for the listing . After receiving another petition , NMFS listed the fish as “ endangered ” in 1990 .

Historically . winter-run Chinook spawned in the upper reaches of Sacramento River tributaries ,

Hopefully , Netchi will see the return of winter-run

Chinook salmon to the McCloud River above Lake Shasta .

Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .

Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk and Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob ’ s Guide Service travel down the Sacramento to Colusa stretch of the Sacramento River on September 15 during the Run4Salmon on September 15 .

Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff . including the McCloud , Pit , and Sacramento rivers . Shasta and Keswick dams now block access to the historic spawning areas .

The remaining fish were able to take advantage cool summer water releases downstream of Keswick Dam . In the 1940 ’ s and 1950 ’ s the population recovered , with the run reaching 117,000 in 1969 .

However , beginning in 1970 , the population experienced a dramatic decline , to a low of approximately 200 spawners by the early 1990 ’ s , due to dramatic increases in water exports to corporate agribusiness interests through the State Water Project and Central Valley water project pumps in the South Delta .

In the years since the initial listing , run numbers have bounced up and down , with a number of measures taken , including the screening of unscreened diversions on the Sacramento , the removal of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and some restrictions on Delta pumping resulting from federal biological opinions .

Unfortunately , record exports of water under the Schwarzenegger and Brown administrations and poor management of upstream reservoirs , combined with a historic drought , counteracted the proactive measures taken , leading to the decline of the fish in recent years .

It ’ s now September 15 , over 28 years after the initial listing , and the winter run Chinook salmon is still in deep , deep trouble . I ’ m boating down the river with Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob ’ s Guide Service during the second year of the Winnemem Wintu Run for salmon .

Caleen Sisk , her son Michael , Gary Thomas , a Pomo Roundhouse leader from Lake County , and documentary filmmaker Will Doolittle and I are on the river for the section of the run going from Sacramento to Colusa .

To recount , the Run4Salmon is a “ participatory , prayerful journey ” that took place this year from September 9 to 22 to “ raise awareness and build public support to help protect and restore declining salmon populations , California river systems