Watershed

Thank you, Justin, for your leadership and support in the stewardship of the Smith River basin!

Formed in 2016, the Smith River Collaborative (SRC) is a joint venture between Six Rivers National Forest, Elk Valley Rancheria, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Del Norte County, Del Norte Fire Safe Council, local and regional environmental groups (Friends of Del Norte, Klamath Forest Alliance/EPIC, Klamath Siskiyou Wildland Center, and Smith River Alliance), and the American Forest Resource Council.

The Smith River Alliance was able to launch the SRC thanks to grant from the National Forest Foundation to advance habitat restoration, fuels treatment, and other projects across the Smith River National Recreation Area.

The recently-awarded National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant will fund the treatment of 300 acres of land adjacent to the town of Gasquet, a designated Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) community. The 300 acres has been segmented into six different fuel breaks which are strategically placed to reduce wildfire threats to the community.

The diverse stakeholders of the SRC focus on “zones of agreement,” thereby putting their effort and energy into advancing projects they agree on — rather than letting disagreements stall progress. Read more about the SRC and their projects.

Fall-run salmon are in to spawn, with steelhead already starting to appear! Photo by Andras Outfitters.