Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
also required with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fish-
eries Service.
The restoration system in Humboldt County has long been characterized by fund-
ing instability and bureaucratic hurdles, and recent trends toward funding fewer,
larger, and more technologically complex restoration projects have further chal-
lenged the ability of small, community-based watershed organizations to continue
their work. One nonprofit organization that has perhaps bucked this trend is the Mat-
tole Restoration Council (MRC). The Mattole River watershed has an unusual blend
of ecological and sociocultural qualities that contribute to the success of the MRC.
The watershed is home to Coho salmon (
Oncorhynchus kisutch
), a species that has
drawn increasing attention from funders in recent years. It is also home to many Hum-
boldt County restoration pioneers, including Freeman House, author of
Totem
Salmon
(House 1999). These local restorationists have firmly established a culture of
community-based, participatory restoration; one that underlies the hard work and suc-
cess of the MRC. Foresight and careful planning, purposeful growth strategy, and ca-
pacity building have all positioned the MRC well to successfully compete for recent
flows of bond and other funding. Throughout this process, the MRC has continued its
commitment to a broadly defined notion of ecological restoration, simultaneously di-
versifying restoration goals and funding sources. Their projects range from in-stream
habitat enhancement to upslope watershed improvement to education, and their
funding portfolio includes over forty different agencies and foundations. It is this com-
bination of attributes that has allowed the MRC to grow more in recent years than any
other entity in the Humboldt County restoration system—from five FTEs in 2002 to
almost thirty-nine in 2007.
The growth of the MRC accounts for most of the increase in private sector restora-
tion employment in Humboldt County since 2002. In 2002, the private sector pro-
vided 240 jobs (or 160 FTEs), and in 2007, those numbers had grown to 447 jobs (or
187 FTEs). Employment within the MRC increased by thirty-four FTEs between
2002 and 2007, whereas the entire private sector only increased by approximately
twenty-seven FTEs. Thus, apart from employment growth within the MRC, private
sector employment has seen a minor
decrease
in FTEs since 2002. Although the num-
ber of jobs in the private sector has increased, the total employment that those jobs
provide (as represented by FTEs) has changed little in the last five years. The increas-
ing gap between jobs and FTEs may point to a shift in the nature of private sector
restoration employment—from many small organizations with year-round (though
limited) staff to fewer, bigger entities with relatively high seasonal subcontracting ca-
pacities and needs.
Tribal Sector
The Yurok tribe and the Hoopa Valley tribe have both been extensively involved in
watershed restoration efforts in Humboldt County. Beginning in 1994, watershed as-
sessments and restoration work on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation were funded
to a large extent by the federal Jobs-in-the-Woods program. The program played an
