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Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Check out our latest stories: Reaching the 'coldest water' Northern California's Deer Creek may have a common name, but as a habitat for fish, it is far from ordinary. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 600 identically named creeks and streams are found throughout the United States, but this tributary to the Sacramento River is a special place: Deer Creek supports the Central Valley's second-largest naturally reproducing population of spring-run Chinook salmon. Credit: Steve Martarano Two decades in the making, Lower Deer Creek fish passage project finally complete By Steve Martarano April 19, 2018 Fish Biologist Tricia Parker recalls vividly her first visit to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Red Bluff office. What stood out in her memory was a fish ladder repair project that was needed at Lower Deer Creek Falls in Tehama County. That was in 1996. Parker, who started working in Red Bluff shortly thereafter, was put in charge of that critical effort to rebuild the failing fish ladder. This includes funneling the fish over a waterfall and bringing threatened spring-run Chinook salmon and other imperiled species back to a key spawning creek located about 35 miles northeast of Chico. Continue to full story...   Record number of steelhead return to spawn during 2017-2018 season at Coleman National Fish Hatchery More than 10,000 steelhead returned to Coleman National Fish Hatchery during the 2017-2018  season, nearly triple the largest return seen at the hatchery since roughly 3,600 steelhead  returned during the 2014-2015 season. Credit: Laura Mahoney/USFWS Unprecedented numbers attributed to California's back-to-back wet years By Laura Mahoney April 17, 2018 Unprecedented. That's the word to describe the 10,000 steelhead that returned to Coleman National Fish Hatchery during the 2017-2018 season. While dealing with the large return presented huge challenges for hatchery personnel, anglers will be happy to see the fish released into the Sacramento River after they have been spawned. Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are the anadromous, or ocean-going, form of rainbow trout found throughout the Sacramento River system and its tributaries. The fish were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1998. Continue to full story...   Nature's Good Neighbors Series: Toads and trails — Restoring habitat, reviving the local economy Landowner David Spicer hitting the trails on his ranch near Beatty, Nevada. Photo courtesy of David Spicer/STORM-OV   This week, the national "Nature's Good Neighbors" campaign features a story about David Spicer, a landowner in Beatty, Nevada, who is working with the Service's Partners Program to protect Amargosa toads while developing his land into a recreational destination for hikers, bikers and runners. Continue to full story... Stay Connected with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region     This email was sent using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region · 2800 Cottage Way · Suite W-2606 · Sacramento, CA 95825