Mathers Rowley is fundraising
Coho Salmon in crisis after Santa Cruz wildfire
Rescue the remaining Endangered Coho Salmon population from on the brink of extinction! Fire badly damaged the genetics conservation and recovery hatchery. The Program needs to be rescued ASAP! Please help! These fish are the future of the Southern Coho. Don't let this be the end! The MBSTP program is the key to rebuilding salmon populations of the CA Central Coast, now more than ever. With watershed conditions so severely damaged wild fish will be lost. This hatchery can build back the population from the native gene stock uniquely adapted to the southern Central Coast. Without immediate funding, the remaining fish will be lost forever! ! We will rebuild the damaged hatchery and access (likely more than $400K) but need immediate funding for engineering, permitting, and materials.
This campaign initiated by our special friends, Bruce Goldstein and Vicki Goldstein. Their narrative follows:
Our dear friend Mat Rowley just lost his house in the devastating CZU wildfire near Santa Cruz, California. Mat and Anne are going to be okay – they’ve got a place to live while they rebuild. What Mat’s really worried about is the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project (MBSTP). The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has worked to recover the native endangered local salmon and steelhead on Scott Creek in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries since 1976. It's been Mat’s passion for over twenty-five years – he’s been its manager, fund-raiser, and even its fish-counter, spending hours underwater in a wetsuit in the chilly waters.
In addition to Mat’s home, the Hatchery Manager, Mark Galloway’s home, right next to the hatchery, also burnt to the ground. Mat and Mark had evacuated and they thought surely the hatchery must be destroyed as well. While devastated by the loss of their own homes, Mat and Mark were both more concerned about the fish they had spent their careers saving.
As Mat wrote to me after the fire, “I need to save what can be saved. These fish matter. They are precious in so very many ways and are a key to the ecological recovery of the devastated Santa Cruz County wild-lands. A rich and beautiful ecotone now pushed to the edge of the ability to recover.”
He knows he will be okay, but he is less sure about the Coho Salmon species. Yet he is not ready to give up on his project or the species, despite these overwhelming obstacles. He elaborated on the importance of salmon.
“So much of the native terrestrial biota have burnt away. Salmon bring energy and nutrients from the wide Pacific up into the coastal watersheds providing food and fertilizer to terrestrial plants and animals. As they spawn and die, their carcasses are consumed and fry produced are vital to healthy riparian ecology.”
The Damage
Both access bridges to the hatchery are destroyed so there is only very rough and tentative access by an old logging road currently. When authorities gave MBSTP permission to return safely to the area, they went to the facilities by foot and found heavy damage to the outdoor rearing tanks in addition to the destroyed access bridges. But they were astonished to find that the main hatchery building and several tanks were undamaged. Because of excellent adaptive management Program fish are doing well in their emergency temporary facilities.
However, with these surviving fish comes great responsibility. These Coho Salmon are a rare and vital part of a species that was on the verge of extinction by the late 1990s. While the species has been declining almost everywhere in Central California, Scott Creek is a bright spot because of the work of Mat, Mark, and other dedicated volunteers through MBSTP. There are only two places where the Southern Coho is increasing in abundance and both support conservation hatchery programs; one of them is Scott Creek in Santa Cruz County. The world cannot afford to let MBSTP’s conservation hatchery program fall.
The damage:
Inaccessible because both access bridges are burnt away
Complete destruction of 5 outdoor rearing pools and shade structures
Complete destruction of remote incubation water intake facilities
Off-road vehicle destroyed (now replaced thanks to the generosity of contributors!)
No lodging for Mark, who lived next to the facilities
Hazardous materials and general clean up (nearly complete)
Now the Hard Work Begins.
After the immediate rescue, the Coho Salmon will need to fulfill their destiny and the purpose behind the hatchery in the first place: their release into the wild. Now accomplished for the 2021 release group. Soon the babies from our spawning efforts will need to be moved back to the hatchery. Then it's a race to get the spawning facilities rebuilt before spawning season. Without safe vehicle access, the hatchery rebuild cannot proceed at the needed pace. The hatchery must be restored in order to fulfill the organization’s mission (and the fish’s mission too!).
Mark is only a few years from retirement and he has alternate lodging in Washington State. However, neither Mark nor MBSTP is prepared for his early retirement. In the midst of this complex crisis, MBSTP needs his expertise and commitment as never before. He needs a place to stay nearby to continue working in Santa Cruz during this emergency.
Immediate needs to keep the coho recovery program alive:
-Bridge Engineering
-Permitting Consultant Assistance
-Material purchase to get started with rebuilding
We have solved the immediate crisis of saving the fish, Now Mat, Mark, Ben Harris (Executive Director) and the team will work on the bigger project of building or restoring the hatchery and new facilities to hold future fish and continuing the conservation mission.
More information
The unprecedented fires in California over the past decade remind us of how much climate change is impacting the world. The year old salmon and their descendants are more important now than ever. There is much to rebuild, but with your help, the Central California Coho Salmon species will endure. Will you help Mat bring the hatchery and the salmon of Scott Creek back from the brink?
We would especially like to thank the following staff and volunteers who undertook a truly courageous effort to repeatedly enter an active wildfire zone in order to assess and secure the surviving fish. You redefine the word hero for all of us and you are the reason so many of these precious fish survived:
Fish Culturist: Seth Bowman
Facilities Manager: Chuck Backman
Executive Director: Ben Harris
Board Chair Emeritus (and retired Fire Battalion Chief): Matt McCaslin
To learn more about the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project, please go to their website and Facebook page .
The Santa Cruz community will endure.
This campaign initiated by our special friends, Bruce Goldstein and Vicki Goldstein. Their narrative follows:
Our dear friend Mat Rowley just lost his house in the devastating CZU wildfire near Santa Cruz, California. Mat and Anne are going to be okay – they’ve got a place to live while they rebuild. What Mat’s really worried about is the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project (MBSTP). The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has worked to recover the native endangered local salmon and steelhead on Scott Creek in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries since 1976. It's been Mat’s passion for over twenty-five years – he’s been its manager, fund-raiser, and even its fish-counter, spending hours underwater in a wetsuit in the chilly waters.
In addition to Mat’s home, the Hatchery Manager, Mark Galloway’s home, right next to the hatchery, also burnt to the ground. Mat and Mark had evacuated and they thought surely the hatchery must be destroyed as well. While devastated by the loss of their own homes, Mat and Mark were both more concerned about the fish they had spent their careers saving.
As Mat wrote to me after the fire, “I need to save what can be saved. These fish matter. They are precious in so very many ways and are a key to the ecological recovery of the devastated Santa Cruz County wild-lands. A rich and beautiful ecotone now pushed to the edge of the ability to recover.”
He knows he will be okay, but he is less sure about the Coho Salmon species. Yet he is not ready to give up on his project or the species, despite these overwhelming obstacles. He elaborated on the importance of salmon.
“So much of the native terrestrial biota have burnt away. Salmon bring energy and nutrients from the wide Pacific up into the coastal watersheds providing food and fertilizer to terrestrial plants and animals. As they spawn and die, their carcasses are consumed and fry produced are vital to healthy riparian ecology.”
The Damage
Both access bridges to the hatchery are destroyed so there is only very rough and tentative access by an old logging road currently. When authorities gave MBSTP permission to return safely to the area, they went to the facilities by foot and found heavy damage to the outdoor rearing tanks in addition to the destroyed access bridges. But they were astonished to find that the main hatchery building and several tanks were undamaged. Because of excellent adaptive management Program fish are doing well in their emergency temporary facilities.
However, with these surviving fish comes great responsibility. These Coho Salmon are a rare and vital part of a species that was on the verge of extinction by the late 1990s. While the species has been declining almost everywhere in Central California, Scott Creek is a bright spot because of the work of Mat, Mark, and other dedicated volunteers through MBSTP. There are only two places where the Southern Coho is increasing in abundance and both support conservation hatchery programs; one of them is Scott Creek in Santa Cruz County. The world cannot afford to let MBSTP’s conservation hatchery program fall.
The damage:
Inaccessible because both access bridges are burnt away
Complete destruction of 5 outdoor rearing pools and shade structures
Complete destruction of remote incubation water intake facilities
Off-road vehicle destroyed (now replaced thanks to the generosity of contributors!)
No lodging for Mark, who lived next to the facilities
Hazardous materials and general clean up (nearly complete)
Now the Hard Work Begins.
After the immediate rescue, the Coho Salmon will need to fulfill their destiny and the purpose behind the hatchery in the first place: their release into the wild. Now accomplished for the 2021 release group. Soon the babies from our spawning efforts will need to be moved back to the hatchery. Then it's a race to get the spawning facilities rebuilt before spawning season. Without safe vehicle access, the hatchery rebuild cannot proceed at the needed pace. The hatchery must be restored in order to fulfill the organization’s mission (and the fish’s mission too!).
Mark is only a few years from retirement and he has alternate lodging in Washington State. However, neither Mark nor MBSTP is prepared for his early retirement. In the midst of this complex crisis, MBSTP needs his expertise and commitment as never before. He needs a place to stay nearby to continue working in Santa Cruz during this emergency.
Immediate needs to keep the coho recovery program alive:
-Bridge Engineering
-Permitting Consultant Assistance
-Material purchase to get started with rebuilding
We have solved the immediate crisis of saving the fish, Now Mat, Mark, Ben Harris (Executive Director) and the team will work on the bigger project of building or restoring the hatchery and new facilities to hold future fish and continuing the conservation mission.
More information
The unprecedented fires in California over the past decade remind us of how much climate change is impacting the world. The year old salmon and their descendants are more important now than ever. There is much to rebuild, but with your help, the Central California Coho Salmon species will endure. Will you help Mat bring the hatchery and the salmon of Scott Creek back from the brink?
We would especially like to thank the following staff and volunteers who undertook a truly courageous effort to repeatedly enter an active wildfire zone in order to assess and secure the surviving fish. You redefine the word hero for all of us and you are the reason so many of these precious fish survived:
Fish Culturist: Seth Bowman
Facilities Manager: Chuck Backman
Executive Director: Ben Harris
Board Chair Emeritus (and retired Fire Battalion Chief): Matt McCaslin
To learn more about the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project, please go to their website and Facebook page .
The Santa Cruz community will endure.
- A
- M
- J
249 supporters
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