California Sketches: Salmon’s Fight for Survival in an Engineered World
From The Sacramento Bee, in California Sketches by Stephanie Taylor:
“Nothing symbolizes ‘made in California’ more than the iconic salmon. Chinook salmon, born in inland watersheds, migrate to the sea to mature and return to where they were born, to reproduce. But their access to natural spawning grounds in the foothills and mountains is prevented by dams on most of California’s waterways. The salmon’s fight for survival on the American River exemplifies the consequences of man engineering nature. …
“Charles Darwin said that it’s not the most intelligent or the strongest species that survives, but the most adaptable. In our engineered world, salmon are struggling to adapt, and now their very survival is dependent on man.”
View more of Stephanie Taylor’s California Sketches. She has donated her paintings to Water Education Foundation fund-raising events, and has a blog, Following Water in California.