The Shasta Salmon Maintenance Program^ of which the Deer Creek 

 research was a part, has been carried on successfully for several years 

 and is adequately described elsewhere (Moffett, 19^9 1 Hansonj, Smith, and 

 Needhajn_, 19U0) . This report presents data and analysis not given in 

 more general reports on the Program, 



From the inception of preliminary surveys in 1938 until its termina= 

 tion in 19^0, the entire program was under the supervision of the Uo S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and financed by the Uo Sa Bureau of Reclamationo 

 Dr. Paul Ro Needham directed the work from its beginning until 19UU, and 

 from then until 1950 Dr. James W. Moffett was in charge. 



Field supervisor of the program until 19U6 was Mr, Harry A. Hanson. 

 From that time to 1950 this responsibility was that of the senior author. 



Other employees, formerly or at present on the staff of the Fish and 

 WildUfe Service, who have assisted greatly in various aspects of the 

 Deer Creek program, are Dr« Osgood R, Smith, Leo Fo Erkkila, Norman ¥, 

 Mattoon, Verl L, House, Thomas J, Beland, Frank I, Barmettlor, Ralph H, 

 Olson, Jo Frank Massey, William H. Davenport, Thad M« Blake and Lewis P. 

 Parker, 



Engineering advice and aid in construction was supplied by the Uo S, 

 Bureau of Reclamation, Various types of useful information have been 

 given by employees of the California Division of Fish and Game. 



Description of Deer Creek 



Deer Creek rises from a group of small springs in Child's Meadows, 

 about 6 miles east of the town of Mineral, in Tohama County, Calif. It 

 flows southeasterly for 6 miles to Deer Creek Meadows, thence southwesterly 

 for about 50 miles to join the Sacramento River near the town of Vina» In 

 common with many other streams draining the western slopes of the Sierras, 

 Deer Creek begins in a mountsiin meadow and winds its way through miles of 

 rugged canyon before reaching the Central Valley plain, where it flows 

 through shallow gullies toward the river o Deer Creek Canyon is a deep cut 

 in an ancient lava flow. At higher elevations its terrain is forested with 

 conifers. In the lower regions the cover is the typical California valley 

 oak -grass land association. 



The first natural barrier to fish migration in the stream was a fall, 

 l6 feet high, about 9 miles above Polk Springs and about liO miles upstream 

 from the mouth, A fish ladder around this barrier was completed in June 

 I9U3, and since then salmon have been able to utilize the stream area above 

 it. About 6 miles above this first fall, a second fall drops sheer for 

 about 20 feet. This upper fall is a barrier and limits utilization of Deer 

 Creek by salmon to the stream area below it. 



