Success Story 2013

Hurdygurdy Creek

Photo: Smith River Alliance
PROJECT NAME:
Hurdygurdy Creek
GRANTEE:
Smith River Alliance
RESULT:
3,317 acres protected

Smith River Alliance secured permanent protection for 3,317 acres in heart of the Smith River watershed along the Hurdygurdy and Jones Creeks in Del Norte County, California.  The land has been included in the Smith River National Recreation Area (SRNRA), ensuring that it will never be developed and will remain open for public recreation.
This is a significant accomplishment for the Hurdygurdy Project, which was launched in 2006, with the goal of securing the last large private tract within the 460+ square mile SRNRA.  Hurdygurdy Creek is one of the best producing steelhead and salmon streams within the National Recreation Area.
The Smith River is one of the “crown jewels” of the National Wild and Scenic River System and is recognized as one of the premier “Salmon Strongholds” along the Pacific Coast.  Over 300 miles of the Smith are included in the Wild and Scenic River System, which was created in 1964 to “protect outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, for preservation in a free-flowing condition.”  Wrapped around this protected river system is the Smith River National Recreation Area.