12/25/2025
’Twas the Night Before Restoration
’Twas the night before winter, all through Scott Valley wide,
Not a channel was dry, not a floodplain denied.
The data loggers were hung by the riffles with care,
In hopes that high flows soon would be there.
The salmon lay tucked in the gravels below,
While beavers dreamed big where the slow waters go.
And staff in their Carhartts, boots muddy and worn,
Had just wrapped a day that began before morn.
When out on the river there arose such a sound,
I sprang from my desk to look all around.
Away to the window I hurried with haste,
Past maps, grants, and plans that were spread and displaced.
The moon on the meadow, the snow on the hill,
Lit BDAs holding the valley so still.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a watershed healing, year after year.
With crews so dedicated, adaptive, and keen,
I knew in a moment—it must be SRWC’s team.
More rapid than runoff their projects they came,
And they called out the creeks as they spoke them by name:
“Now Sugar! Now French Creek! Patterson, too!
East Fork and Noyes—there’s more work to do!
Reconnect those floodplains! Let groundwater rise!
Build habitat strong for the young salmon fry!”
Like leaves that before a good prescribed burn fly,
They planned with intention and science held high.
So up through the watershed their efforts they threw,
From forests to meadows to tailings once blue.
And then, in a moment, I heard by the door,
The boots of collaboration and partners galore.
As I turned from my thoughts and was spinning around,
In walked community, science, and boots on the ground.
They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,
Monitoring flows and adapting each quirk.
And filling the valley with hope, not just charts,
They showed how restoration begins in our hearts.
Then I heard them exclaim, as they headed from sight,
“Healthy rivers for all—and to all a good night!”
