Field Tours and Workshops

1) Field Tour: Iconic Chico Creeks, Restoration, and Fish – Tuesday, February 10th

This tour visits Chico’s iconic Big Chico Creek and Butte Creek, bringing you to the center of local fish passage, conservation, and fish advocacy. We will visit the Iron Canyon Fish Passage Project to learn about exciting restoration in action, tour the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve to hear about conservation and post-fire creek recovery, and explore Butte Creek to observe restoration success stories and a stronghold for spring-run Chinook Salmon. The tour runs from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.

2) Field Tour: Feather River and Lake Oroville – Tuesday, February 10th

PC: California Department of Water Resources

This tour brings you to the heart of water and salmon in California via a trip to Oroville Dam and the Feather River. Participants will learn about dam history and operations at the Lake Oroville Visitor Center, observe fish rearing at Feather River Fish Hatchery, and learn about Feather River fisheries monitoring and restoration from a walking tour. The tour runs from 8AM to 4:30 PM.

3) Field Tour: Sacramento River Restoration – Tuesday, February 10th

This tour brings you to the banks of the Sacramento River to learn about hard-earned success stories in riverine habitat restoration. Join us to tour successful salmon habitat restoration efforts in Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park, hear about riverine processes at the Kopta Slough Multi-Benefit Project, and observe a decades-long setback levee and restoration effort at Hamilton City. The tour runs from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.

4) Workshop: Fish Printing with Bruce Koike

PC: Bruce Koike

Learn the Japanese art of Gyotaku also known as Fish Printing. At the core of this art form is that the actual fish is used in the process. Participants make numerous prints and have 1:1 interactions with the instructor.

5) Workshop: Geographic Information System Usage – Tuesday, February 10th

This interactive training introduces fisheries professionals to essential GIS concepts and practical tools used in aquatic resource management. Through guided exercises and real-world examples, participants will learn how to organize spatial data, create informative maps, analyze data and distributions, and apply GIS to monitoring and decision-making. The workshop emphasizes approachable, repeatable workflows that participants can immediately integrate into their daily work. Suitable for beginners and those looking to refresh their GIS skills.

6) 2-Day Workshop: Planning and Preparing Chemical Treatments (Monday, 2/9 – Tuesday, 2/10)

Thinking about the possibility of a chemical treatment to support restoration or native species enhancement projects but unsure where to start? This 2-day workshop will cover planning and first steps to prepare for rotenone treatment. Taught by Brian Finlayson and Don Skaar who both have experience teaching this topic for AFS, this class is tailored for California and Nevada’s needs. The class will cover overview of uses and impacts, project planning and public engagement, regulatory compliance, case histories, and characteristics of successful projects. It will also delve into beneficial actions within management and conservation plans, and additional details of planning a successful treatment including safety training and hazard communication. With California’s current limitations on rotenone, this may be your chance to check out this management method before diving into the whole process!