Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3722 Oct 12-26 | Page 19

Who are we ?

Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk and a group of Indigenous women , activists , and allies are organizing the Run 4 Salmon , a 300-mile trek that follows the historical journey of the salmon from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Winnemem ( McCloud River ) to raise awareness about the policies threatening our waters , our fish , and indigenous lifeways . It ’ s a dire time in California for wild chinook salmon ( Nur ) – climate change , giant dam projects and draining rivers for Big Ag irrigation threaten the survival of the keystone keepers of our waters .

Salmon bring essential nutrients to the waterways , forests , and lands . However , since the Shasta Dam was built 71 years ago , the salmon have been unable to return to their home waters in the Winnemem ’ s ancestral watershed . Now , the Winnemem Wintu Tribe is working on a plan to bring the genetic descendants of their salmon from New Zealand back to their home waters .

What ’ s the problem ?

Our waters , our fish , and indigenous ways of life are all under attack . The U . S . Bureau of Reclamation , Westlands Water District , and Senator Dianne Feinstein plan to raise the height of Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet . Gov . Jerry Brown of California wants to build two giant tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that will divert our fresh water from the Sacramento River for the GMO Agricultural industry and have the potential of diverting every drop of fresh water from the Sacramento River .

If they build these tunnels and raise the dam they will kill the largest estuary on the Pacific coast , inundate future spawning grounds on the McCloud River , and flood Winnemem Wintu sacred sites . These projects will destroy sacred ceremonial places , poison the soil , and destroy unique habitat that is essential for salmon as well as other plants , birds , and marine life .

What are we doing ?

The Run4Salmon 2017 took place from Sept . 15 to Sept . 30 beginning at Segorea Te ( Glen Cove , Vallejo , Ca ) along the Bay-Delta Estuary and up the Sacramento River and ending at a Winnemem Wintu Village and Ceremonial site on the McCloud River , where the Salmon once spawned in their ancestral spawning grounds before Shasta Dam was built .

This event raised awareness about the threats to the salmon ’ s existence and the vital role salmon play in keeping our waters and forests healthy . We will be laying down blessings along the route they will take once they are brought back from New Zealand . This is a ceremonial way of bringing Salmon home , who have historically been the keepers of the water , and whose jobs are essential to keeping our waterways healthy for human life and for all other life that depends on these rivers . As we run , we will be praying to bring balance to the rivers of California and to all of the waters of the world , which are connected .

For more information , go to ; http :// www . run4salmon . org /

Shiloh Rd .

Birds Ldg Road

Van Sickle Island

Shiloh Rd .

Montezuma Slough

Pittsburg

Railroad Av .

RUN4SALMON ROUTE

Love

Olsen Rd

Birds Ldg Rd

Birds Landing Montezuma

Collinsville Road

Montezuma

Solano , Sacramento and Contra Costa Counties

Talbert Lane

Collinsville

Montezuma Chain Island Is

Browns Island

New York Sl

E . 14th St

Ridge Rd

Buchnnan Road

Middle Sl .

Broad Slough

Winter Island

Sherman Island

Antioch

Kemball Is .

Rd

Hills Hills

Sherman Island Waterfowl Management Area

Donlan Is

West Is .

Montezuma

The Sherman Island area between Pittsburg and Rio Vista is one of the most fertile fishing areas in California , with migrations of striped bass , sturgeon shad and king salmon taking place throughout the year .

Sacramento River

Sherman Lake

Dam

Wilbur Avenue E . 18th Street

Mayberry Sl

Sherman Island Rd .

Rd .

Sherman Is .

Cross

Antioch Bridge

Toll Plaza

Main

Rd

Brannan Island State Park

Sherman Island

Sherman

Street

Rio Vista

Decker Island

US Army Rio Vista Depot

Emmaton

Island

3 Mile Slough

East Leve

San Joaquin River

Big Break

Oakley

Fishing Notes

• Striped Bass are caught in this region year round with the best times being spring , winter and the late fall . Trolling is best when water temperatures are warm and the water is clear , while bait fishing is best when the water is colder and discolored .

• Sturgeon are also found here throughout the year , but the peak migration times are in the winter and spring . Use ghost shrimp , grass shrimp and lamprey eel for bait .

• White and Channel Catfish are found throughout the sloughs and river channels . Dunk clams , sardines and other baits .

• Black Bass offer world class action in a variety of areas , including Sherman Lake , Mayberry Slough and Big Break .

Road Brannan Is

Twitchell Is

The Southport Levee Improvement Project along the Sacramento River is one of four designed to bring West Sacramento up to the state-mandated 200-year level of flood protection .

Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .

Zealand government says these are our salmon . Maori officials say they are from the McCloud . And the Bureau and NOAA have no doubt they are our fish .” “ It ’ s a matter of the federal government wanting to utilize the hatchery winter run Chinook they have been raising ,” said Sisk . “ After testing , they will submit the samples to the Bureau and also to New Zealand and UC Davis .” After the salmon are certified as the original winter run , then the Tribe will have to fight for passage on the Sacramento to the McCloud above Shasta Dam . “ Getting the fish around the dam is cheaper than truck and haul . The tribe wants to provide for fish passage by connecting a channel from Cow Creek , a tributary of the Sacramento River below Shasta Dam , to Dry Creek , a tributary that now flows into Shasta Lake ,” said Sisk , who is currently running for the California Assembly in Assembly District 1 . One major problem is that the federal government won ’ t let the Winnemem participate in the meetings where fish passage and restoration plans are discussed , since over three decades ago their federally recognized status was taken away from them by means of a clerical error . More recently , Bureau Officials said the fish passage project has been suspended . “ They won ’ t let us on the committee for the restoration pilot project . They said it would take an act of Congress for us to get on the committee , even though the Tribe joined a 2009 lawsuit pushing for the restoration of the run ,” she said . Meanwhile , the U . S Bureau of Reclamation continues to move forward with its plan to raise Shasta Dam . Over the next several months , Bureau of Reclamation geologists will be extracting core samples from on , around and deep within Shasta Dam . Gathered data will be used to characterize concrete and geology conditions related to a proposed 18 ½ feet Shasta Dam raise , according to Todd Plain , Bureau of Reclamation spokesman . The federal government has been studying the idea of raising the dam and enlarging Shasta Reservoir on and off since the 1980s . The Tribe held a “ war dance ” in 2004 and again in 2014 at the Shasta Dam opposing the raise . “ The current Shasta Dam and Reservoir Enlargement Project envisions raising the existing dam by 18 ½ feet , providing an additional 630,000 acre-feet of stored water for the environment and for water users ,” according to Todd Plain of the

U . S . Bureau of Reclamation . “ Enlarging the reservoir will improve water supply reliability for agricultural , municipal and industrial , and environmental uses ; reduce flood damage ; and improve water temperatures and water quality in the Sacramento River below the dam for anadromous fish survival . Chief Sisk strongly disagree that the raise will help anadromous fish survival and improve water temperatures and water quality .

“ This is the most idiotic waste of millions of dollars since the 1980 ’ s with another billion dollars or more on a very old DAM . Will the BOR ’ s drilling make people in Shasta County aware of how much toxic sediments exist in the bottom , will it show how big the water cave waves are that might not hold the new tonnage of an 18.5-foot raise ?” asked Sisk . The raising of the dam would not only threaten salmon and steelhead runs , but it will inundate many of the Tribe ’ s remaining sacred sites that

weren ’ t already flooded when Shasta Dam was built , according to Sisk . She views the dam raise as part of bigger plan to export more Northern California water to corporate agribusiness and Southern California water agencies in conjunction with the proposed building of Sites Reservoir and the Delta Tunnels . Big thanks go to James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service , who is now guiding for fall salmon in the metropolitan area , and Alyx and Brennen Howell for donating their time to the Run4 Salmon . For more information about Tight Lines Guide Service , contact ( 888 ) 975-0990 , web : https :// fishtightlines . com /

Mike Morales of Sacramento had a great time battling this bright Chinook salmon during a trolling adventure on the Sacramento River below Discovery Park on September 22 .

Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .