Bill Templin

Thursday, June 8, 2006

Bill Templin

Watershed Coordinator

North Fork American River Watershed

In June 2004, Bill was selected to fill a grant position funded for 3 years as the watershed coordinator for the North Fork American River Watershed. This area extends from Interstate 80 on the north to Georgetown Divide on the South and from the Sierra Crest to Folsom Lake.

Thanks to this grant from the California Department of Conservation and administered by the Placer County Resource Conservation District, he was able to exercise his angling interests and apply his 30 years of water resources experience to help learn and teach others about the health of this watershed.

Since his first week on this job, he has been exploring access to the North Fork and Middle Fork of the American River, including the Rubicon River that drains into the Middle Fork American River. Thanks to many people who have given him leads and help, he feels like he’s gotten a good start on identifying the health of this watershed and the high quality fishery that we have now.

We’ve learned more about the Wild Trout Streams within our watershed on the North Fork American River above Colfax and the Rubicon River above Ralston Dam/Oxbow Reservoir. From what he has learned, the wild trout in the Middle Fork American River may be larger and more plentiful than they are in either of our “designated” Wild Trout streams. Better fish surveys of the entire watershed are needed to be certain.

During the last half of this year he helped George Edwards with 3 sampling events as part of the California Department of Fish and Game’s “Central Valley Steelhead Genetics Project” in parts of the Middle Fork American and Rubicon Rivers. Samples from these surveys will be analyzed and used to determine if the current populations of Rainbow Trout in our watershed are similar to those below Folsom Lake and along the California Coast so our understanding of the historic stocking of trout will be improved.

So far we know that the Browns are spawning in the fall, but results are inconclusive about the Rainbows and “more investigation is needed.” Telemetry has been useful as a tool in the Henry’s Fork, (as well as up near Truckee) to help improve knowledge of which river reaches and tributaries that are key to fish migration and spawning and we hope to develop enough interest in these issues to get similar projects funded here.

This job is not for everyone, as parts of this watershed are remote and not easily accessible presently, but somebody’s got to do it! If you want to help improve the access to, as well as the health of this watershed, please contact Bill Templin at 916-601-9954, or by email at wtemplin@surewest.net.