Native Steelhead

* Re “Steelhead Trout Nominated for Endangered Status,” July 31:

Besides restoring and augmenting runs of steelhead trout to Malibu Creek and coastal streams further north, we also need to think about restoration in streams in the San Gabriel Mountains. There are still on the order of 100 miles of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat in our local mountain streams. I believe some of these streams still have remnants of native steelhead gene pools; their lower reaches are mainly populated by fingerling trout that seem to be migrating down to man-made reservoirs to grow into spawners. Since these streams often remain large and cool enough to hold larger fish through the summer, this behavior only seems to make sense as the remains of a steelhead genetic heritage.

Sometime in the future the economic resources, technical know-how and political will to reconnect these fish with the ocean will probably come together. Meanwhile we should at least conserve the habitat and gene pools that will be needed.

DAVE MASON

Culver City