By Nels Johnson
The Marin Independent Journal
MARIN, Calif. — Sammy the Salmon has come to the rescue of a community where residents and fishery advocates have been at odds over how best to care for a creekside environment.
Sammy, a cartoon version of a coho salmon holding a native plant in one fin, a flag saying “give me shelter” in the other, is the new emblem of a campaign by FireSafe Marin to ease frazzled nerves and promote best streamside practices in the San Geronimo Valley.
Controversy has raged in the valley as conservationists associated with the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network promote creekside habitat and building restrictions, including regulations opposed by the San Geronimo Valley Stewards. The stewards include local property owners who regard themselves as the best caretakers of the creeks that provide habitat for endangered coho salmon.
The activist fishery organization has sued the county, saying planning policies do not provide adequate protection for the fishery, even though the county and the Marin Municipal Water District each have spent about $1 million annually in recent years on valley fishery projects.
“Instead of having these stern stewards or angry SPAWNers, I thought we’d come up with a symbol of hope, Sammy the Salmon,” said Kent Julin, a valley property owner and fire department official who serves as county forester.
Julin, who came up with the Sammy logo idea, said the broader sparkplug for a “best practices” brochure sporting the fish caricature came from Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who asked officials to put together an educational leaflet explaining how residents could maintain fire-safe homes and fish-safe creeks at the same time. The move follows controversy about regulating removal of creekside vegetation that nurtures fish habitat.
“This program reinforces the fact that folks can be fire safe and fish friendly at the same time,” Kinsey said. “It is part of our continuing effort to restore salmon by offering streamside property owners useful information. Education is a whole lot more productive than lawsuits and moratoriums.”
Julin said that FireSafe Marin, the countywide fire prevention organization, went to work and developed a “Sammy” brochure that has been distributed to 600 valley homes.
The brochure outlines best practices for fire safety, beginning by calling the county fire department for a free site visit, documenting hazardous tree conditions, pruning no more than 25 percent of a tree crown annually, cleaning gutters, creating clearances near the chimney, woodpile and fuel tanks, creating general defensible space zones and taking related steps.
Near creeks, plant large native trees, overhanging plants and allow downed logs to provide shade, cool water and fish habitat, the brochure notes. Removing large native trees within 100 feet of a creek requires a permit unless specific exemptions are met, such as those deemed fire or safety hazards, it says.
A list of shrubs and trees to plant is provided, along with a creek resource directory that includes the websites of the stewards, SPAWN, the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group, and the county fire, public works and planning departments, among others.
Jason Weber, acting county fire chief, said the brochure program is “an excellent partnership between the fire department and the residents of San Geronimo Valley.” Residents who want fire officials to conduct an on-site “fire-safe” visit, he added, may call 473-6717.
“We can never let our guard down with regard to fire safety,” noted the 53-year-old Julin, county forester since 1998. “These brochures will help people protect the families as well as the fish of San Geronimo Valley.”
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