California Coast & Ocean

In Conclusion


	The Big Bay Watershed
	A map of this issue's focus
	Shasta Dam Story
	At the headwaters of the Sacramento River
	Ariel Rubissow Okamoto
	Wandering the Watershed
	A road trip
	Anne Canright
	Exploring California's "Water Line"
	Sierra crest to the sea along the 38th parallel
	David Carle with Janet Carle
	Restoring Life to the Yuba River Goldfields
	Reinhabiting a watershed
	Rasa Gustaitis
	Calling Back the Yuba River Salmon
	Derek Hitchcock
	Making Way for Salmon
	Fish passage barriers removed from streams
	Eileen Ecklund

	Sam's Page
	The End of a Long Good run
	Coastal Conservancy News

	Poems
	Photographs

	Useful Sources

IN THIS ISSUE:

In this final issue of California Coast & Ocean, we invite you to wander through California's biggest watershed, from Mount Shasta and the Sierra crest above Mono Lake to San Francisco Bay. We offer you a glimpse of where almost half of this state's water comes from and where it goes, and why water wars can be expected to grow in intensity. We also bring you stories about efforts now under way to restore salmon to coastal streams--efforts that can succeed only if there's sufficient water for the fish. As always, we report both on some huge emerging challenges, and on inspiring and creative responses. As Coast & Ocean signs off with this issue, we hope that we have passed on to our readers some of what we have learned during the magazine's 25-year lifetime. Thanks to all our subscribers, readers, and visitors. Click here to view.

Every major river that drains into the Central Valley was dammed at low elevations, creating a "terminal rim" that, among other devastating consequences, excluded salmon from 90 percent of their spawning habitat. As a result, Central Valley salmon runs that historically were four to five million strong have been reduced to a few thousand primarily hatchery-raised fish, clear indication that one of the world's great ecosystems is on the verge of collapse. These dams have disconnected our ocean from our mountains, severing a life-cycle that has balanced the ecology of our freshwater, saltwater, and terrestrial environments. The fate of salmon and the fate of our living rivers is now very much in our hands.
--Derek Hitchcock

Multiple copies of the Pacific Ocean issue, and separate copies of the map enclosed with it, are available free of charge to anyone engaged in educational or conservation work, or any coastal or ocean activity. E-mail your request to Dick Wayman at the Coastal Conservancy, dwayman@scc.ca.gov.

SEND US YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS
It's possible that a successor to this magazine will materialize, mostly on line. If you want us to let you know about that, or any other related development, please send your e-mail address to ghertz@scc.ca.gov with a note saying you want to be notified.

Our website survives and will grow.
The online editions of Coast & Ocean will remain accessible. By early next year, we will add PDF versions of the entire print archive, since the magazine was first published in 1985 as California WaterfrontAge.

Wheelchair Guides Available:
A Wheelchair Rider's Guide to San Francisco Bay and the Nearby Coast (2006) is available free of charge. For the PDF version or to order print copies, contact the Coastal Conservancy. To view the book cover, click here. A Wheelchair Rider's Guide to the Los Angeles and Orange County Coast (2001) is out of print, but for PDF and interactive versions, click here.

Check out Our Previous
Special issue on the Pacific Ocean:
A wide-angle view of where we live and how we are connected.... Can we learn to appreciate sharks in time to save them?.... Ocean acidification: the great dissolve.... A journey through the floating world.... A diver tackles derelict gear.... Cleaning up commercial shipping.... Ocean havens and reserves.... Click here to view.