The Van Duzen River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
on the north coast of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...
. It is a major tributary of the
Eel River and drains , mostly in
Humboldt County, with a small portion in
Trinity County. The river travels from its headwaters on the west side of the
North Coast Range to its confluence with the Eel River, about upstream from the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
and south of
Eureka, California
Eureka ( Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
. The river's elevation is over at its source and only when it merges with the Eel River. The river has two forks in its upper reaches. The North Fork travels northwest until it reaches the small town of Dinsmore, where it starts flowing west. The Little Van Duzen, which also flows northwest, joins the North Fork a few miles later. The river flows roughly west from then on. It meets its largest tributary, Yaeger Creek, about before it reaches the Eel River.
The river is used for recreation at locations including
Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park and for industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply by residents living along the western portion of
California State Route 36
State Route 36 (SR 36) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that is routed from U.S. Route 101 in Humboldt County to U.S. Route 395 just east of Susanville in Lassen County. The highway passes through Red Bluff, ...
. The river also provides wildlife habitat for preservation of
rare and
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
including cold freshwater habitat for fish migration and spawning.
[State of California ''Water Quality Control Plan North Coastal Basin 1B'' July 1975 p.13] The primary
land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long hist ...
in the
watershed is timberland. Road construction and poor
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
practices, particularly historical, have increased
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...
, leading to excessive
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, san ...
buildup in the river and its tributaries. In addition, gravel
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic v ...
, particularly at the confluence of the Van Duzen and Eel River, has increased erosion, affected channel alignment and may block
fish migration
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...
.
About 26 percent of the land is owned by industrial
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
companies. About 31 percent is privately owned, but not industrial, land used for timber production and
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/ Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
es. Residential land makes up 26 percent and public land makes up 17 percent. Most of the public land is near the river's headwaters in
Six Rivers National Forest.
The Van Duzen River has been federally designated as a "
National Wild and Scenic River
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free ...
". It is named for James Van Duzen a member of the
Josiah Gregg
Josiah Gregg (19 July 1806 – 25 February 1850) was an American merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of '' Commerce of the Prairies'', about the American Southwest and parts of northern Mexico. He collected many previously undescribed pla ...
exploring party that first traveled to
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between San ...
overland in 1849.
References
United States Environmental Protection AgencyKlamath Resource Information System
External links
*,
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
,
GNIS
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
Friends of the Van Duzen River
{{Authority control
Rivers of Humboldt County, California
Rivers of Trinity County, California
Six Rivers National Forest
Rivers of Northern California
Tributaries of the Eel River (California)
Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States