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Historical Background:

Prior to World War II, the 304 square-mile Mattole watershed was relatively pristine. The river supported an abundance of adult salmon and steelhead. The post-war logging boom left less than 9% of the old-growth forest intact. The effects of over-harvesting at sea, as well as legal and illegal in-river fishing, were magnified by an inherently unstable landscape, resulting in a developing decrease of salmonid populations to less than 10% of historic levels. By 1990, Mattole salmon runs had declined to levels which scientific experts believed were beneath the numbers necessary for recovery.

Citizens in the Mattole region formed the Mattole Salmon Group (MSG) in 1980. We were the first watershed-wide, entirely citizen-run effort in the Pacific Northwest to begin restoring native salmon runs.

MSG continues to promote and operate a broad-based program aimed at restoring the remnant runs of native chinook and coho salmon in the Mattole River. Along with the Mattole Restoration Council, founded in 1984, MSG participates in the planning, coordination and implementation of habitat improvement work and resource monitoring on a basin-wide scale. In the course of this work, we strive to inform and involve local residents, students, citizens groups, government agencies and others. Though the watershed is large enough for our efforts to be significant, the area is small enough to achieve our goals. However, if we can achieve our goals here, the nature of our accomplishments can translate to larger watersheds.