The crown jewel of American rivers, the Smith River in Northern California, has been given new luster with the purchase last week of the vast Goose Creek watershed.

Goose Creek is one of the Smith's largest tributaries, a vital feeder to the Smith's pristine flows for salmon and steelhead. The Western Rivers Conservancy helped the U.S. Forest Service purchase a 9,483-acre parcel that encompasses the watershed and adds the land to the Smith River National Recreation Area.

Goose Creek enters the South Fork Smith River near the bridge for the Gasquet-Orleans Road, right at the line for legal steelhead fishing on the South Fork. Goose Creek is big enough to be called the Goose Fork of the Smith, and while the forest was logged virtually to water's edge in the past, fishery scientists call it "an incredible fish stream" that will now be protected forever.

"To bring back the state's salmon runs, the first priority is to protect the healthiest streams like the Smith," said Phil Wallin, conservancy president. "The best way to do that is to protect the headwaters and major tributaries. By protecting Goose Creek, we help ensure that the Smith River will run clear and cold forever, just as steelhead required."

The Conservancy purchased Goose Creek land in several phases in the past six years. U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both California Democrats) and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, helped arrange for $3.1 million from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to allow the Forest Service to close the deal.

The Smith is one of the last major rivers in America free of all dams. westernrivers.org.

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