Discussion Questions Before Viewing
What is a watershed?
Definition:
1) The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
2) A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. [From The American Heritage Dictionary, 1998.]
What do you know about the life-cycle of salmon? Do you know how salmon are born?
The salmon’s reproduction process is called spawning. Salmon are unique in being born in freshwater streams and then living most of their lives in the salty waters of the world’s oceans. After three to seven years at sea, salmon return to the same stream where they were born, using homing mechanisms that are not fully understood. There the females use their tails to dig into gravel, constructing nests called redds, where they lay thousands of eggs while males fertilize the eggs. Then the females use their tails to cover the eggs with gravel. After the females spawn, they usually die. After six to seven weeks (depending on water temperature) the eggs hatch and the baby salmon stay under the gravel for two to three weeks until they emerge and begin swimming downstream. Many of them swim out into the ocean within a few weeks, while others stay in the river for a year, but eventually they all go out into the ocean. [Note: The salmon which is shown being cut open to remove its eggs, in the video, is a female and would have died after laying her eggs in the wild. In fact, the percentage of her eggs which will successfully hatch and grow in the hatchbox is much greater than would occur naturally in the wild.]
What do you think a healthy watershed is?
This is a question with many different answers. But most people would agree that certain basic elements are always necessary. Some of them are: The land and streams are capable of sustaining a full diversity of native life forms; the waterways can handle occasional floods without excessive bank erosion; water has not been so diverted for farming or cities that the watercourses are dry or too shallow.
Discussion Questions After Viewing
How did this video make you feel?
What do you think the title of this video means?
A clue: The director was inspired by an essay by Aldo Leopold, a pioneer in the ecological movement in the U.S. In his 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold wrote about “Thinking Like a Mountain.”
What is a watershed?
Do you know what watershed you live in? Do you know how to find out?
Topographic maps can help you. They are found in libraries and some camping stores. Local environmental and watershed groups may be listed in your phone book.
What is an ecosystem?
Ecology is the relationship between organisms and their environment. An ecosystem is the ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit.
How is a healthy watershed different in an urban area? Is there such a thing? How could it be created?
Why are the salmon dying off in the Mattole River?
There are many factors that contribute to this problem. Two of the most important are: The logging of vegetative cover which accelerates soil erosion, and road building. These activities resulted in the salmon’s spawning habitat (clean gravel beds in the creeks) being buried under silt and other sediments, suffocating the eggs and babies. This sediment also filled in the deep pools where previously the salmon could hide from birds and other predators while the cool water allowed salmon of all ages to survive in the hot summer months when the shallow river got too hot.
Why are the salmon coming back now?
There are many factors contributing to salmon recovery. Much of the watershed is regrowing forest, many of the old logging roads are now closed, habitat restoration efforts are taking effect, fishing regulations no longer allow as much harvest, and many others.
What role did the community play in the Mattole restoration work?
community members helped in many roles. They called attention to the problems and solutions, organized the work, helped fundraising, allowed access to their private land, etc.
Why is the silt rising in the Mattole River?
Soil erosion happens everywhere. But removing plants and disturbing the soil causes erosion to happen much faster and easier. You have probably seen this happen on a small scale near your home. In the Mattole watershed this happened on a very large scale as over 90% of the forests were logged for lumber, and roads were built to haul the logs out. As the water from rain and snow runs downhill, it carries the dirt with it, which ends up in the creeks and the river.
What is sustainable forestry?
Are there any groups in your community like the Mattole Restoration Council, the Mattole Salmon Group, or the Sanctuary Forest?
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