November 12, 2008 Mt Shasta CA, Big Springs ranch The Shasta River as it runs through Big Springs Ranch about 20 miles north of the town of Mt Shasta. The Shasta River and its tributaries create one of the most important spawning nurseries for Chinook salmon in the entire Klamath Basin. The ranch is contributing to degraded habitat conditions, which actually warm water temps by upwards of 10 degrees as the river passes through the ranch and then spills into the Klameth River.This stretch of river is a very fertile juvenile salmon rearing area and that there are a surprising number of returning salmon in spite of habitat degraded by grazing cattle and bad irrigation practices, United States of America

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