This year, Pacifica 4H members volunteered to help restore habitat for the endangered Coho Salmon in the Lagunitas Watershed in West Marin County. Led by naturalists from the Salmon Protection And Watershed Network (SPAWN), we worked right next to golfers on the San Geronimo Golf Course, through which the San Geronimo Creek flows.

After volunteering upstream, we traveled downstream a little ways to see if we could spot any salmon. We saw five or six Chinook, and possibly a couple Coho, from an awesome vantage point above them on a footbridge. The salmon were milling about, racing up and down the river, and generally getting ready to move farther upstream into the areas we were just working. This was an opportunity for members from the 4H photography project to get in some good work. 

Coho salmon, a threatened species, are the most abundant salmon species spawning in the Lagunitas Watershed, yet populations are down 90% from historic numbers. The two to three foot fish leave the ocean and travel miles up local streams to lay their eggs. The Lagunitas Watershed, located in West Marin County is reported to have one of the largest populations of wild Coho left in California.