An article in the Jan. 23 edition of The Malibu Times, entitled “City Council will hear appeal of Forge Lodge project,” states that the National Park Service wants to spend $1.7 million to remove obstacles that obstruct the steelhead from swimming up Solstice Creek to spawn. National Park Service officials say that the modification of Solstice Creek could provide a mile of habitat for about 300 steelhead, an ideal condition for spawning. This amounts to $5,666.66 per fish.
I have hiked up Solstice Creek and find there is not enough water to support the steelhead spawning. During the spawning season in the spring and the fall, sand bars build up, blocking access from the ocean to Solstice Creek. Assume the steelhead could go up Solstice Creek, why would the Forge Lodge inhibit steelhead migration? Steelhead swim up Mission Creek through the middle of Santa Barbara. The streams in Alaska flow through the towns on the coast with footbridges with thousands of tourists from the cruise ships crossing these bridges daily with the streams filled with trout and salmon. These fish don’t mind the human presence, why should these steelhead that may or may not swim up Solstice Creek mind human neighbors?
The state of California is $30 billion in debt. This is not a judicious spending of tax money. If the questionable spawning of a few steelhead is the only opposition to the Forge Lodge, the city should green light this project.
Tom Moore