Mattole River and Range Partnership Interested in Assessing Effectiveness of Decades of Work
The Mattole Restoration Council, the Mattole Salmon Group and Sanctuary Forest are united together as the Mattole River and Range Partnership (MRRP). Their shared goal is to restore and conserve the streams, forests, grasslands, and wildlife of northern California’s Mattole River watershed.
Over the past thirty years, members of the MRRP have worked with the local community to develop and carry out innovative approaches to address a number of critical watershed issues including declining salmon runs, habitat degradation, low summertime streamflows, the spread of invasive plant species, elevated stream temperatures, and high rates of sedimentation in the streams.
By all accounts the MRRP represents successful community-based watershed collaboration. However, despite robust agency partnerships and concerted efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of their work, the MRRP members struggled to obtain funding that would allow them to regularly assess the effectiveness of their work and refine their restoration strategies over time based on the results they saw.
Long-term Partnership with BEF Supports Coordination and Evaluating Ecological Response
In an effort to meet this challenge, the MRRP approached BEF with a proposal to create a 10-year Model Watershed partnership. In 2009 the partnership was formalized and BEF support is now being used to monitor salmon population and distribution trends, track water quality and assess efforts to improve chronic low flows in tributary streams. These three key environmental attributes will provide vital feedback on the overall health of the Mattole ecosystem and the efficacy of the MRRP’s efforts to restore it.
Model Watershed Partner Contacts:
Mattole Restoration Council
PO Box 160
Petrolia, CA 95558
http://www.mattole.org
Sanctuary Forest
PO Box 166
Whitethorn, CA 95589
http://www.sanctuaryforest.org
Mattole Salmon Group
PO Box 188
Petrolia, CA 95558
http://www.mattolesalmon.org
BEF believes it takes at least a decade to make a difference.
Our long-term funding strategy gives our partners more freedom to approach their work with a longer-term perspective, leading to more comprehensive and strategic action on the ground.