The Hoopa Valley Tribe will partner with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on a project to help Salmon. A weir has been built in the Lower Trinity River that will replace two other weirs, which were operated separately by the tribe and the state. The Willow Creek weir had been used since 1978 to evaluate long-term Salmon and Steelhead trends. The tribe’s weir downstream of that had been used for selective harvesting for tribal ceremonies and food. Now both the tribe and CDFW will use one weir near the Tish Tang Campground on the Hoopa Reservation to achieve the goals of both entities, and reduce the stress and handling of Salmon returning upriver to spawn. The Trinity River Restoration Program has sought to mitigate the devastation to the salmon population caused by the Central Valley Project dams upriver.
-Steve Gibson