Conserving a Cold-water Lifeline for Salmon on California’s Redwood Coast
Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC), an Oregon-based non-profit conservation organization, has purchased 47,097-acres along Blue Creek in Northern California and is working to use carbon finance to transfer the forested property back to the Yurok Tribe. Today, 14,790 acres are conserved as a “salmon sanctuary” with protection from harvesting. The other 32,307 acres are managed as a tribal “community forest” with limited sustainable harvesting. WRC has also placed a carbon project on nearly 15,000-acres of the property. As the project area recovers from industrial management, the California Air Resources Board Forestry Protocol will credit the project exclusively for new carbon growth, meaning all the carbon credits generated can be considered carbon removals.
The project protects Blue Creek, where the riparian and upland areas provide outstanding habitat for rare and imperiled animals like marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, California condor, and Humboldt marten. Blue Creek also acts as a cold-water lifeline for salmon in the Klamath watershed. The Klamath was once the third largest producer of salmon on the West Coast, but faces many significant threats today. Salmon and steelhead are impacted by high water temperatures resulting from low summer flows. For returning fish on their journey inland from the Pacific Ocean, Blue Creek is the first cold-water refuge they encounter and this project ensures its long-term protection. Blue Creek’s cold water allows salmon and steelhead to lower their body temperature by as much as eight degrees, making this tributary critical to their survival.
WRC is using carbon revenue to pay for the purchase of the property, implement restoration work and ultimately transfer the land back to the Yurok Tribe. Carbon and sustainable timber revenue generated by the property will support the Yurok Tribe over the long-term. Currently, 80% of the tribe lives below the poverty line. Carbon finance enables the return of ancestral lands to the Yurok, who–before this project–only retained five percent of the original reservation promised to the tribe in 1855.
Watch the Video
PROJECT TYPE: Improved forest management
LOCATION: Humboldt and Del Norte County, California
VERIFICATION: California Air Resources Board (CARB)
RELATED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS):
This project contributes directly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations:
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by countries in global partnership to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
Co-benefits
Western River Conservancy’s approach to forest management allows this project to provide a safe habitat for many rare and imperiled animals like marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, California condor, and Humboldt marten. Preserving the health of the Blue Creek forestland promotes the optimal flows and temperatures required for native salmon to thrive.
Conserving this property will help spur an economic revitalization by offering new sustainable management job opportunities in an economically depressed area. Carbon finance enables the return of ancestral lands to the Yurok Tribe.
