Involving the Public in Lake Restoration Programs

Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks are both preparing draft aquatic management plans that will describe several potential scenarios designed to restore native aquatic fauna while continuing to provide abundant opportunities for recreational fishing. Both plans will likely be released to the public in the next 6-12 months. These draft plans will provide an unprecedented opportunity for interested members of the public to have input into the Park-wide management of lakes and streams in these areas. Details on the Sequoia-Kings Canyon planning process are available here and those on the Yosemite plan are available here. Send a note to each Park (contact info in the above links) to be added to mailing lists for these planning processes. If you provided comments during the scoping period related to these plans you are already on their mailing lists.

On federal lands outside these national parks, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) is currently developing watershed-based plans that describe the future management of fish (including fish stocking) and amphibians. These planning efforts have so far not been open to the public and completed plans are not publicly available. An example plan (for the Big Pine Creek watershed - near Bishop, California) is available here. This effort is being coordinated by CDFG senior biologists in Regions 2, 4, and 6 and overseen by Curtis Milliron. CDFG staff in Region 1 (includes Trinity Alps, Marble Mountains, Caribou Wilderness) and Region 4 (includes the western portion of the John Muir Wilderness and wilderness areas west of Kings Canyon National Park) have so far opted not to prepare management plans but I suspect that this will change in the near future. If you are interested in planning efforts in a particular area, I'd suggest calling the senior biologist responsible for that particular region. A map of the seven CDFG regions and associated contact information is available here.

On an unrelated note, since the new year I've strayed from my usual weekly posts due to obligations that have kept me away from my desk more often than not. I'll do my best to make future posts on Monday of each week.

Back to The Mountain Yellow-legged Frog Site.