Stillwater Sciences

05/04/2026

🌿 Honored to be part of an important new chapter for the Elk River Estuary 🌿
Stillwater Sciences is proud to support California Trout and its partners in restoring the Elk River Estuary—one of Humboldt Bay’s most important watersheds. This large‑scale, collaborative effort will help reconnect tidal marshes, revive critical salmon habitat, and improve long‑term resilience to sea‑level rise, benefiting both wildlife and surrounding communities.
We’re honored to contribute our science‑based expertise to this meaningful restoration work and to be part of a project that reflects a shared commitment to healthy ecosystems and sustainable futures.
🔗 Read more about the project below

The Elk River was once the heartbeat of Humboldt Bay, and we're working to bring it back to life. 🐟💙

For generations, the Wiyot people harvested and smoked fish along its banks, coho and Chinook salmon filled its waters, and a thriving estuary defined the region's ecology and culture. Decades of logging and agriculture changed all of that. But restoration is underway!

We're proud to share major milestones in the Elk River Estuary restoration project, an 857-acre effort to bring tidal marsh, salmon habitat, and estuarine function back to one of the North Coast's most significant landscapes.

Among the highlights:
- 65% design drawings complete for the full 857-acre project
- Construction at Swain Slough (a 40 acre sub-area) slated for this summer
- Secured 175 acres of former tidelands, proactively acquiring agricultural lands at high risk from sea level rise
- Historic site Chwanuchguk returned to the Wiyot Tribe for cultural stewardship

None of this is possible without our incredible partners from local landowners to government agencies and the Wiyot Tribe.

We also just launched an interactive StoryMap where you can explore the history, ecology, and restoration vision firsthand. Click the link to learn more and explore the StoryMap: https://caltrout.org/news/restoring-the-elk-river-estuary-a-new-chapter-for-one-of-humboldt-bays-most-important-watersheds/

05/02/2026

With Salmonid Restoration Federation – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

04/30/2026

We are so excited to be attending and sponsoring the annual Salmonid Restoration Federation conference this week! If you're there, check out the Thursday session on Restoration Strategy, Implementation, and Collaboration, where our partners from The Nature Conservancy are presenting on the Shasta Parks Creek project.

The 43rd Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference will be held in Redding, California on April 28 - May 1, 2026. The Call for Proposals is now open.

04/14/2026

One of the best things about working at Stillwater is getting to interact with the next generation of scientists. Stillwater recently presented a special recognition award for Excellence in Environmental Sciences at the Humboldt County Science Fair. The award was given to two 8th graders from Jacoby Creek School for their project Vertical Variation: a study of Prairie Creek Biodiversity. Congratulations to these future scientists!

04/07/2026

Happy International Beaver Day to all who celebrate!
In honor of this semi-aquatic mammal, we are resharing a video from our partners at Colorado Springs Utilities, highlighting a just-completed implementation of a low-tech restoration project that will help restore an old beaver meadow complex to help serve as a fire buffer and trap sediment post-fire. Beaver reintroduction will likely take place next year along with continued adaptive management.

This low-tech restoration project restores former beaver dams on Pikes Peak to create a riparian corridor that acts as a natural wildfire break.

04/01/2026

Thirty years ago today, Stillwater Sciences was founded with a simple idea: use the best science to make a meaningful difference.

Today, we’re proud to be an employee‑owned environmental consulting firm shaped by the passion, creativity, and dedication of our people. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we’re reflecting on the projects, partnerships, and relationships that brought us here—and looking ahead to the work still to come.

Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the Stillwater story through these 30 years. We can't wait to see what's next! 💚

03/31/2026

We’re excited to share that Stillwater Sciences was featured in the latest issue of ECESIS, the quarterly journal of the California Society for Ecological Restoration (SERCAL (California Society for Ecological Restoration). Our article discusses Stillwater's support of Delta tidal restoration and levee projects by developing adaptive, collaborative mitigation strategies to protect special‑status plants, drawing lessons from successful avoidance, salvage, transplanting, and propagation efforts across multiple species and sites.

Congratulations to authors Carina Bilodeau, Karley Rodriguez, and Megan Keever for contributing their expertise to this important restoration conversation. Read the entire article here:

03/11/2026

Safety first! Stillwater's 2026 cohort of river rescue trainees are working to improve staff safety and preparedness for in‑channel fieldwork by learning to identify and manage river hazards, meet requirements for higher‑risk efforts, and safely support wadeable river monitoring and restoration activities--all while having fun! Huge thanks to Sierra Rescue International for teaching practical skills while developing the ability to think through complicated wilderness and rescue problems.

03/10/2026

Congratulations to Stillwater Quantitative Ecologist Dr. Patti Wohner on the publication of her recent research article! 🌟

Learn about how Dr. Wohner and her collaborators developed a prioritization tool that uses intrinsic potential habitat models, climate scenarios, and access constraints to identify stream reaches with the highest benefit for spring‑run Chinook and winter steelhead. 🐟

Read the article here:

Gravel augmentation is a widely used restoration technique used to improve habitat below dams, including salmonids spawning habitat. However, gravel augmentation can be cost-prohibitive, and it is of...

03/09/2026

On , Stillwater honors and celebrates the women whose leadership, expertise, and perspectives strengthen both our science and our organization.

From field crews to executive leadership, women play a central role in shaping our work, our culture, and our future. As a woman‑led, employee‑owned company, advancing equity and opportunity isn’t just a value—it’s a strategic priority that makes our science stronger and our solutions more resilient.

Happy International Women’s Day to the women who inspire progress, collaboration, and change at Stillwater and beyond.

02/26/2026

Webinar alert! 🌊🌿
Join us March 4 for a webinar hosted by Society For Ecological Restoration (SER) exploring the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) Flow Restoration Project on the Cache la Poudre River--a hybrid river restoration and infrastructure project that blends low‑impact diversion design, river restoration, and equity‑centered access. Learn how this innovative project protects a $220M instream flow water right while improving stream health, fish passage, and community connections. Hear about this important project from Stillwater River Designer Johannes Beeby along with partners from the City of Fort Collins. 🌊🌿
Register here:

This webinar will engage participants in a design overview, virtual tour, and lessons learned discussion of a hybrid river restoration and infrastructure project on the Cache la Poudre River (Poudre River) that blends a low-impact diversion structure for reliable water right flow delivery, river res...