Nature Conservancy land buy to help revive coho

[XemaSab]

The cold, nutrient-rich waters of Big Springs Creek once were so full of coho salmon during spawning season that a former ranch owner said he was kept awake at night by the noise of splashing fish.

The coho's fertile history in the creek, now only a distant memory, is why the Nature Conservancy paid $14.2 million for the 4,136-acre Shasta Big Springs Ranch, including the entire 2.2-mile length of the creek.

The group's purchase of the lush valley in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Shasta, which will be announced today, is part of an ambitious effort to protect and restore what might be the most important coho spawning ground in the western United States.

"My goal is to be kept awake at night, not by the knowledge that the salmon are dying, but because they are spawning again," said Amy Hoss, the project manager for the Nature Conservancy's Klamath River Project.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/17/MNKA16F5S6.DTL

[ClarkUSA]

1. Great news... hopefully, Team O will set aside federal monies to help NC repair the land.

[pscot]

2. I searched Big Springs Creek

in Google earth, and it directed me to Cecil's Big and Tall in Stateline. Big Springs Creek must be a tributary of the Klamath. What's the nearest town?

[XemaSab]

3. It looks like it's between Yreka and Weed.

n/t

[pscot]

4. Weed used to have a one stop store

that advertised "Liquor, Guns and Real Estate". A-googling we go.