SRRC - News & Info

SRRC News Contents

  1. UPDATED 7/16: Spring Chinook & Summer Steelhead Dives: July 22-24
  2. Wildfire News: Ukonom Complex Fires on the Salmon River
  3. Klamath Watershed Festival: July 18 & 19 in Happy Camp
  4. New Website Launched
  5. SRRC Welcomes New Board Members

Salmon River Cooperative Spring Chinook & Summer Steelhead Dives

Dive Update 7/16: Please Read for Importnat Info on Dives and Fire Issues

Despite wildfire activity on the Salmon River, the Spring Chinook dives will take place as planned July 22nd to 24th. There may be travel restrictions or road closures on the lower Salmon River Road between Somes Bar and Wooley Creek. If you are planning on coming in from Somes Bar, please check with us in advance and consider the possibility of taking an alternate route such as Highway 96 to Scott River Road to Highway 3 and then the Sawyers Bar Road from Etna to Forks of Salmon.  Call us at 530-462-4665 or contact us via email.

Unfortunately, we have to postpone the Voluntary Spring Chinook Recovery Group meeting and Genetic Stock Identification presentations due to the fire restrictions.

We are likely to get a lower turnout than normal due smoke and travel restrictions so we NEED EXTRA VOLUNTEERS.  Please plan on coming and helping make this year's Salmon River Spring Chinook Dives a success. Encourage others to come have a great time on the river diving for salmon.

2008 Salmon River Cooperative Spring Chinook Dive Announcement

Come participate in the 2008 Salmon River Cooperative Spring Chinook Dives.  Stay for fisheries workshops, presentations and restoration activities!

The annual Salmon River Spring Chinook Dives will take place in Forks of Salmon July 22 – July 25. Dive training (mandatory if you are a first year or tenth year diver) will take place Tuesday, July 22, followed by an evening of movies under the stars.

The dives will take place Wednesday and Thursday, July 23 and 24.  Educational programs, workshops and fieldtrips are also on the program. Chinook stock, otolith and genetic research presentations, as will as a spring Chinook research planning meeting will be held Friday, July 25.

Download the full schedule of activities and registration form PDF file.

Wildfire News: Ukonom Complex Fires on the Salmon River

Jake Fire, mainstem Salmon River, June 24, 2008
Merrill (Jake) Fire, mainstem Salmon River, June 24, 2008 Photo: Scott Harding

The lightning storm of June 20, 2008 ignited several wildfires in the Salmon River watershed. These fires are continuing to burn with increasing strength as of July 19. The fire is being managed for the benefit of natural resources and/or wildland fire use by the US Forest Service.

Ukonom Complex

The Ukonom Complex includes the Merrill Fire in the Salmon River watershed. Click for a daily map of the Ukonom Complex (this is a large JPEG image file).

Image description
Daily Ukonom Complex Fire Map

Much of the Merrill Fire is located within the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area and adjacent roadless areas. Initial ignition points were near Merrill Mountain, Black Mountain, Medicine Mountain, Black Mountain, and Portuguese Creek. The Jake Fire has merged into the Merril Fire and goes by that name. This part of the fire is burning in the mainstem Salmon River canyon between Moerhouse Creek and Somes Bar from river level to ridgetop on the north side of the river.

A separate, much smaller fire is slowly burning in the Crapo Creek drainage.

These fires are expected to burn into the forseeable future and into the driest part of summer.

Backburning operations are expected to begin in the Forks of Salmon vicinity on July 19. These burns will progress downhill from Yellowjacket Ridge to the Salmon River Road in an attempt to reduce fuels ahead of the advancing Merrill Fire.

Gould Complex

The fires of the Gould Complex burned in Gould Gulch near Cecilville. These fires were containedon July 2 and all firefighters have been removed from the fire.

Bear Wallow Complex

The fire burning in the Caribou Lake area in the high country of the South Fork Salmon Trinity Alps) is now being managed as part of the Bear Wallow Complex.

SRRC Assistance

The SRRC is assisting the US Forest Service in assessing the fires, GIS mapping, supporting the Salmon River Fire Safe Council and by providing valuable information about fire history in the area.

Current Fire Information

Daily press releases about the fires are posted on the Klamath National Forest's online newsroom. The InciWeb fire information website now includes the Ukonom Complex and the nearby Siskiyou Fire Complex on the Klamath National Forest.

For more information contact the USFS Fire Information Officers at 530-627-3981 or at .

Klamath Watershed Festival: July 18 & 19 in Happy Camp

Join us at the second Klamath Watershed Festival on July 18 and 19, 2008 to celebrate the power of community, arts, and the restoration of our rivers, forests, and ourselves. The festival includes live music, poetry, and spoken word, educational hikes, raft trips, involvement in local restoration projects on the Klamath River, children’s activities, local art exhibits, craft booths, video and multimedia presentations, savory food, and riverside camping! Visit the Klamath Watershed Festival website for more info.

New Website Launched

The SRRC launched its completely redesigned website on April 26, 2008. This is the first redesign of the www.srrc.org website since its beginning over ten years ago! A lot has changed.

Key features of the new site include:

The new website should provide a better, more informative resource for the local community, our collaborators, funders, members, and the general public.

SRRC Board Member Scott Harding custom built the site with the assistance of SRRC staff. Lyra Cressey (SRRC's Monitoring Program Coordinator) coordinated the new site's content.

Please contact us with your feedback so we can continue to improve the site.

Our old website has been removed from the web as of May 26, 2008.

SRRC Welcomes New Board Members

SRRC would like to welcome three new board members: Creek Hanaeur, Ben Beaver, and Sharon Hoppas were elected to our board of directors on March 1, 2008. Both Creek and Sharon live on the South Fork and are active members of the Salmon River community. Ben Beaver grew up on the Salmon River. We look forward to their active participation with SRRC.

We would also like to thank departing board members Bill Tripp, Harold Tripp and Rhonda Olsen, all of whom served on our board for many, many years.