California Conservation Corps
T
he California Conservation Corps (CCC) is a department of the government of California established in 1976. The CCC is a voluntary work development program specifically for men and women between the ages of 18 to 25, offering work in environmental con-
servation, fire protection, land maintenance, and emergency response to natural disasters. Fortuna is home to two successful CCC programs – The Salmon Restoration Project and the Watershed Stewards Program. The Eel River watershed is one of many to benefit from these programs,
which have restored or enhanced nearly 1,800 miles of streams and estuary habitats and planted more than two million trees. The Watershed Stewards Program (WSP) is dedicated to improving watershed health by actively engaging in restoration science, civic service, and community education while empowering the next generation of environmental stewards. The primary focus of WSP is to assist communities and organizations with habitat restoration for salmonids (Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, and Steelhead trout) to rehabilitate these threatened and endangered species to healthy and historic populations. Since 1980, the Salmon Restoration Program has been the core of the CCC’s work in riparian and watershed restoration. The Fortuna center serves as one of the bases for work focused on watershed restoration. This work includes instream habitat improvement, invasive species removal, stream-bank stabilization, bioengineering, habitat and barrier assessment, livestock exclusionary fencing, fish passage barrier removal/ modification, and native riparian planting. Restoration work is focused on streams and watersheds that have the greatest ability to increase threatened and endangered salmonid populations over the long term.
© California Conservation Corps
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