challenges

Deer Creek

has been threatened

since the days of the Gold Rush. Prospectors turned over every section of the river, diverted its waters, logged its forests, and filled it with gravel and toxic mercury in their quest for riches. This legacy is still with us. Abandoned mines and mercury hotspots haunt the creek, and the native vegetation has been crowded out by invasive non-natives that create tinder-dry conditions in our hot summers. Over the past 150 years, trails to the creek have become overgrown, fish habitat has disappeared, and the remaining fish are tainted with mercury. And now, with the gold mining long ended, the creek faces new threats as our community experiences rapid growth. Land development, sewage disposal, agriculture, even car maintenance all require special care if we are to avoid further harm to the life of the creek.