Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: California
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Redwood Creek is one of the major rivers in Humboldt County, California and supports salmon and steelhead trout that are federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Speicies Act. Redwood Creek is currently listed as sediment and temperature impaired, and various restoration efforts (and plans) in the basin have occurred, or on-going. Prior to this study there was little to no information on the population size of anadromous salmonids (adults or juveniles) utilizing the majority of the Redwood Creek basin. For the past five years we have successfully determined smolt population estimates for listed salmonid species migrating to the ocean from the majority of the Redwood Creek watershed; the production that we are missing (Prairie Creek watershed) is monitored by Humboldt State University. This study is a cooperative effort with California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), Redwood National Park (RNP), the landowner where the trap is located, and trapping efforts in the upper basin (Redwood Creek Landowners Association, CDFG, and Fisheries Restoration Grant Program). RNP assists this study via estuary sampling. This study was designed to be long term, and collects data that can be used to assess watershed conditions and restoration activities.