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Californian of the Year honored

Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle

May 8, 2003

What started as a provocative idea at a boat ramp -- to plant kokanee salmon at California lakes -- has turned into one of the most successful volunteer efforts in California history to improve fishing opportunities.

The man who put the idea into action, Rod Browning of the California Inlands Fisheries Foundation, was honored this week as the Outdoor Californian of the Year, as voted by the Outdoor Writers Association of California.

In the past 10 years, with Browning as executive director of the Fisheries Foundation, 15 million kokanee salmon have been stocked in 25 lakes in Northern California.

"All this was accomplished with a payroll of zero dollars," Browning said. "Volunteers perform all work. All funds go directly to fish."

This projected started in a conversation at a boat ramp with the late Hal Bonslett, publisher of an outdoorsman's newspaper called the Fish Sniffer. Bonslett was determined to improve the cost-effectiveness of fish plants. Browning then helped spearhead the project, supported by 1,400 volunteers and an eventual partnership with the Department of Fish and Game.

The key to the project is the low cost of planting kokanee salmon as fingerlings, about 3 to 5 cents per fish, compared to raising rainbow trout to 10 to 12 inches for release, roughly $1.50 to $2 per fish.

With the DFG as a partner, large numbers of kokanee salmon have been stocked at Bullards Bar Res. near Marysville, New Melones near Sonora, Stampede and Boca near Truckee, Indian Valley near Williams, Pardee east of Lodi and many others.

The Foundation also provided a $100,000 water chiller to Livermore High School so students could raise king salmon at its campus facility.

Browning said his organization also raised $35,000 at a recent banquet to create a pen-rearing program for trophy rainbow trout at Lake Berryessa, and is planning a pen-rearing program for brown trout at Bucks Lake in Plumas County. Information: (916) 456-5981; http://www.kokanee.org.
 

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