LAKE COUNTY ? The Chi Council was named Conservationist of the Year Tuesday during a Lake County Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Lake County Fish and Wildlife Committee (LCFWC) selected the Chi Council for the award because of its efforts to protect the Clear Lake hitch, a native species of minnow found only in Clear Lake.
“This is truly a Lake County effort, and one that everybody should be proud of,” LCFWC Chairman Greg Giusti said.
“Chi” is the Pomo name for the now extinct Clear Lake split-tail, a distant relative of the Clear Lake hitch, according to council President Peter Windrem. The Chi Council launched a grassroots effort in 2004 to monitor the hitch”s annual spawning runs, according to Giusti, who presented the award. He said the group coordinated the volunteer effort to study the species and protect it from extinction.
“Their migration and spawning is awesome to watch,” Windrem said. “Only 30 years ago, vast numbers of hitch filled the creeks all around Clear Lake to spawn. Now Adobe Creek and Kelsey Creek are the only creeks with significant runs. We worry about the future of this unique fish.”
Windrem said the hitch are important to Pomo culture and provide food for bass, osprey, eagles and otters. He said the reasons for the hitch”s declining numbers are not fully understood. Speculation includes a damming effect created by bridge supports that have cut off 30 miles of spawning grounds, introduction of non-native fish and food competition.
Giusti praised the council”s communication network, which employs phone trees, a Web site and community networking.
“They have reached out to a broad coalition of interests, including farmers, the tribes, other organizations active in the community, as well as government and academic institutions. They”ve really included anybody and anything who”s been interested in monitoring this native species,” Giusti said.
The council”s Web site, www.lakelive.info/chicouncil, calls for observers to document sightings of the hitch during the spring, when the adults swim upstream in Clear Lake”s tributary creeks to spawn. Observation forms, results, photographs and more information is available at the Web site. Giusti said the Web site is regularly updated with photos and sightings of the fish, and serves as a “go-to place” for council members and the public.
Giusti said the award given Tuesday was the first one LCFWC gave since 1999, and the first time the award was given to a group.
“This is a meritorious award given for spectacular work in the name of conserving Lake County”s natural resources,” Giusti said. “Certainly there are a number of good people and good projects out there that have not been recognized. So it was the desire of the committee this year to take it seriously and cast a broad net to try and find someone or some group that is deserving of this award.”
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
