Located between the coastal towns of Eureka and Arcata in California, Cochran Creek is a small creek that flows into Humboldt Bay.
The creek meanders through the lowlands around Humboldt Bay converted to farmland from a tidal marsh years ago.
Sea Level rise resulting from climate change is rendering one farmer’s land unusable from salt intrusion, so he has given that land to CalTrout so they can ecologically restore it.
This will protect the rest of his farmland from sea level rise, while also helping to revive salmon populations by reconnecting the creek to the ocean.
Cochran Creek is a small watershed (~1 square mile), but the creek offers important fish habitat for federally listed steelhead and coho salmon, and coastal cutthroat trout.
CalTrout’s recently completed project restores connectivity from ocean to watershed and addresses some of the high-quality habitat that the Humboldt Bay coho salmon population needs.