Hello, I'm Ranger Anica here with anotherRanger Minute from Redwood National and State
Parks. I here in the Mill Creek watershed, part of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.
With the acquisition of the upper reachesof Mill Creek in 2002, the entire Mill Creek
watershed is now protected. Mill Creek flows into the Smith River, the only major undammed
river in California, making it a vital stronghold for threatened Pacific salmon.
Since this area has been damaged by years of commercial logging, our challenge is to
restore the Mill Creek watershed to its former health—because a healthy watershed is critical
for healthy salmon. As scientists employ cutting-edge methods to speed the recovery process, the
Mill Creek watershed project has become a national model for forest restoration. In
spite of this, recovery will take decades or even centuries to fully realize.
In order to improve water quality, we are removing historic logging roads that are a
source of the sediment that wash into creeksand streams. Culverts are being removed that
block salmon from migrating upstream. Wood is being returned to the creeks, providing
hiding places and resting pools for salmon, and returning complexity to the stream bed.
Finally, overgrown “monocropped” forests are being thinned, and replanted with a variety
of native species. The restoration work underway in the Mill
Creek watershed is meant to speed up the natural healing process of this damaged land. Today,
we are beginning to see positive results, from the many people and organizations who
are working together to bring salmon back to the redwood forest.