Jacob Katz, director of Central Valley operations for the conservation nonprofit California Trout, looks out on the Sacramento River, near the Rough and Ready Pumping Station. Credit: Liza Gross It’s easy to see how biologists studying the fate of California’s native fish might fall into despair. That’s how Jacob Katz felt when he and his colleagues reported in 2011 that more than three-quarters of the state’s native freshwater fish, including its iconic Chinook salmon, were in sharp decline. But Katz, a fly-fishing ecologist who directs Central Valley operations for the conservation nonprofit California Trout, isn’t the despairing type. His eyes lit up as he recalled the moment he realized the same forces leading California’s fish to the brink of extinction could be harnessed to reel them back. That epiphany now drives his work. Restoration isn’t about removing any one dam or returning to some mythical pristine condition but about helping salmon recognize the rivers they evolved with, said Katz, walking along a flood-protection levee that cuts off the Sacramento River, California’s longest, from the thousands of farms and towns that occupy its historic floodplains. When you realize “farms or fish” is a false choice, he said, “suddenly you see […]
Harnessing Rice Fields to Resurrect California’s Endangered Salmon

Latest Articles
Electronic ears spy on poachers in a key Central American jaguar habitat
The international NGO Panthera has been using acoustical monitoring systems to support their anti-poaching patrols in Guatemala and Honduras since 2017. The acoustical...
Polar Bears, a Beacon of Hope
Polar Bears, a Beacon of Hope
Guest Post By Krista Wright, Executive Director at Polar Bears International It’s February 2021, polar bear moms and cubs are...
Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025
Up to five of Australia’s remaining 16 coal power plants could be financially unviable by 2025 due to a flood of cheap solar...
Empire State Building Realty Trust Now 100% Powered by Wind
For nearly 100 years, the Empire State Building has stood as a testament to the industriousness and economic power of the United States....
Large privately owned redwood forest is preserved in $24.7 million deal
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A vast redwood forest located 80 miles north of San Francisco and sprawling nearly as large as Big Basin...
Environmental policies not always bad for business, study finds
Credit: CC0 Public Domain Critics claim environmental regulations hurt productivity and profits, but the reality is more nuanced, according to an analysis of...