Environmental Issues Concerning the Wildlife on the Russian River

By Usha Patel

California has been a "Golden State" for much of its history. It has been blessed with a favorable climate and rich natural resources.

All wildlife needs land or natural habitat to survive. Without it, animals will need to live in zoos, behind bars and lacking the magical spark of the wild. Natural habitat is their home and land is needed for the animals to survive and reproduce.

The Russian River is the home to the Coho Salmon and the Steelhead Trout. Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout have been listed as "threatened" by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

Some of the interconnected developments that have contributed to the Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout's decline are:

  • logging and forest practices
  • agriculture (wineries)
  • farming
  • ranching
  • water diversions
  • increasing sedimentation from gravel mining
  • riverbank manipulation
  • loss of river banks and buildings along thousands of miles of streams in Northern Coastal range
  • increasing sediment from steep-slope planting of vineyards and no barriers to stop run off of silt and metal trash.

    The Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout habitat are in a heavily forested areas with a lot of shading from trees. The shade from the trees keep the water at a comfortable temperature for the fish. Once the trees are cut down, the water temperature increases because of sunlight and ultraviolet radiation. This is very uncomfortable for the fish so they swim down stream in search of cooler waters. Most of the fish that go down stream do not come back to their original habitat. This depends on whether or not their habitat still even exists. Another reason the Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout do not come back to their original habitat is because of the swift current.

    Sediment that falls into the Russian River is another reason why there is a decline in the Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout. Sediment that runs into the river effects the water temperature, water clarity, the fish that live in it. The sediment clogs up the fishes gills restricting the oxygen available to the fish, and therefore causing death and the decline of the Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout (Libeu).

    Before the decision to place the Coho Salmon and the Steelhead Trout on the threatened species list, people were saying, "Life as we know it will change if the fish gets listed, Well , the fact is that life as we know it had already changed, which is why the fish got listed. The listing is a result, not the cause. The fish are not a problem. The fish have a problem"(Griffin).

    The Russian River Perspective