Juvenile coho salmon discovered

Ukiah, Calif -- — Scientists have discovered juvenile coho salmon on the North Coast in a number of places where the endangered fish had not been seen for years.

Jennifer Carah, a field scientist for the Nature Conservancy, said she was snorkeling recently in the Garcia River watershed when she found a school of the tiny salmon.

The salmon have been found in 10 areas from which they had previously vanished.

The Garcia River watershed had been devastated by logging, and the coho population dwindled to 1% of previous numbers.

In 2004, the watershed became part of a “sustainable forestry” experiment, which allows for only selective logging on the land.

The funds from the logging are then used to pay for restoration and land management.

The area is owned by the Conservation Fund, which paid $18 million to a timber company for the 23,780-acre Garcia River Forest.

The Nature Conservancy works alongside the Conservation Fund to study and monitor fish and wildlife on the land.