Dec 25 -- For years, fish passage on James Creek, a tributary of Big River that leads to the town of Mendocino, was hindered by a nine-foot waterfall caused by the construction of Highway 20. Only the luckiest or most agile fish could make it past the barrier.
Now, after about five years of planning, design, and a different kind of construction, the stream has been widened and eight smaller stairstep waterfalls provide access to several miles of ideal spawning habitat.
The Mendocino Land Trust and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife just completed the stream restoration project in October, using several hundred tons of rock from Harris Quarry. Willits contractor Garman Brothers did the heavy liting. On December 21, Mendocino Land Trust Director of Conservation Doug Kern gave me a tour of the newly reconfigured tributary. Join us for an upstream ramble.