is on the north bank of and adjacent to the river. Geography In the 1850s, Euro-American settlers started ranching and agricultural traditions on the land. This would inhibit contraction of disease and decrease the native Mattole tradition of relying on river resources. Post World War II: Logging of Douglas fir became an increased practice for this period of building construction and the tax value of standing trees rose as well. Since logging increased, more debris settled in the Mattole River, further damaging it. From 1947 to 1988, the old-growth coniferous forest in the watershed was decreased by 90 percent. Because of the increased industrialism of this time period, road building led to a network of roads. The basin streams became destabilized. Forest practices, like the skidding of logs downstream channels became normal practice. The streams and forestry along the Mattole were damaged as a result. Logging boomed from 1955 to 1964 and two historically large floods greatly changed the structure of the Mattole streams. After the floods of 1964, sediment yields averaged 16,370 tons per square mile of watershed area, approximately .25 inches per year averaged across the watershed’s area. At this time the erosion rates in the Mattole River were approximately 0.001 inches per year. Erosion increases dirt and debris in the river, hindering waterflow and devastating the survival of the river’s living organisms. The best spawning habitat areas for salmonid species were damaged in 1970 when the chain development of residential housing began. Large landowners divided their land into 40 to 200-acre squares for this development. As a result, the developments caused the transportation of sediment to slow and eventually fill great spawning habitat stream channels. Restoration A 1959 survey from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported Mattole spawning runs were 10,000 Chinook salmon and 4,000 coho salmon. Later in 1964, a survey from the California Department of Fish and Game reported Mattole spawning runs were 10,000 Chinook salmon and 4,000 coho salmon. During the 1980s, reports showed the Chinook salmon run fell to 3,000. This number dropped even lower in 1990 and 1991, when Chinook salmon run fell to 100 and coho salmon fell to approximately 100 as well. The American Fisheries Society classified the species as “high risk for extinction”. 1980: The Mattole Salmon Group (MSG) was formed by local residents. Their aim is to restore the native salmon populations. The MSG created gravel-lined “hatchboxes”