What is Heritage Wild Trout?
...and how do I fit into this fishy situation?
Speaker: Jen Hemmert, CDFW
Mar 3, 2020 7:30pm
San Bernardino County Museum, 2014 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands
Did you know we have native wild trout in our local streams and rivers? There are also populations of planted trout for fishing that are not native but live in our local waterways. These populations are under threat from drought, habitat loss and water pollution. Our speaker for March is Jen Hemmert, current California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wild Trout Biologist for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. She works under the Heritage and Wild Trout Program (HWTP) based out of Fisheries Branch in Sacramento. Jen works on projects to assess and manage the trout populations of forested streams within Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Prior to this assignment, she worked for the six previous years of her CDFW career managing reservoir and lake fisheries in these same two counties plus Imperial County, which included projects on the Colorado River.
Come to our meeting on Tuesday March 3rd at the San Bernardino County Museum to learn about projects that our California Department of Fish and Wildlife have in place locally to understand and protect our wild trout. Populations are monitored in interesting ways – can you imagine snorkeling in one of our local streams? Jen will explain the various ways in which fish populations are counted. She will also let us know how we can help. Outings leaders should attend this meeting, as there are opportunities to turn an outing into a wild trout discovery and monitoring trip. If you aren’t interested in hiking and wading around in mountain streams, there are additional ways to get involved as a “citizen scientist”.
Jen will also fill us in on the problem of an aquatic invasive species that is now in this watershed.
For a little more about Jen, before joining CDFW she worked for UC Davis as an associate researcher. Before working at UCD, she had an AmeriCorps National Service position serving under a non-profit salmon group in the Yuba River watershed in the Sierra Foothills in Northern California. The last non-profit job brought her to Nevada City, California.
During her fisheries and natural resource career in California, she has monitored mountain meadows, conducted water quality programs, snorkeled streams, e-fished lakes from boats and backpack e-fished streams, surveyed for macro benthic invertebrates, and worked with 100’s of volunteers conducting citizen-based science. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology with a focus
Meetings are free and the public is welcome.
