Restoring California's Wild Watersheds Emboldened by that
success, the small coalition of county officials and businessmen
expanded to include ranchers, environmentalists, and state and
federal officials. Although many of them had been at odds over
land management issues, they realized they could only heal the
watershed if they cooperated. Wilcox had been a firsthand
witness to stream dredging and other practices harmful to
ranchlands and forests. A man more at home in a pickup truck
than an office, he was eager to be a part of reversing the
damage. “I believe in watershed restoration. It has always been
in my bones,” he says. And that became the Feather River
coalition’s goal: restoring entire meadows along with the creeks
flowing through them. Among the methods they have pioneered is a
low-tech procedure known as “pond and plug.” Crews with heavy
equipment dig several of the channels wider and deeper, creating
small ponds. They use the excavated dirt to fill the remaining
gullies back to the original ground