Earth Protect Blog

Shannon Skelton, Environmental Hero with a Fish Story Worth Hearing

The early years were a scary endeavor and squeaky tight financially. Yet, Shannon Skelton knew he could build a better river. With water resources valued for sustaining human life, Skelton had his work cut out for him to champion a new approach to river ecosystem rehabilitation.

Shannon grew up in an idyllic small Oregon town where free flowing, unspoiled rivers were the norm. He deeply valued these streams that provided years of angling pleasure for he and his father and brother. He became a professional river guide and fly tyer to help finance college, and subsequently put his fisheries management education and experience to the test. It became clear early on that the manner in which stream habitats were being restored was artificial and lacked consideration for the river’s ecosystem and delivery of nutrients throughout the watershed.

Water flowed, yes. However, scientifically, the river restoration approaches Skelton was seeing weren’t working in the long run. Skelton then went beyond envisioning a better way to restore rivers, and in 1997 he founded CFI - Global Fisheries Management. He started on borrowed money—working from a home office and with the support of his wife and a little later his brother, Jason.

He and his company now lead the way in holistic and innovative approaches to restoring and enhancing fisheries and stream environments. He speaks reverently about his work in rehabilitating streams, lakes, rivers, wetlands and ponds in a natural way that achieves sustainable environmental health for the entire ecosystem. In the rural lands cut by rivers, it’s the landowners who gain a lasting legacy for generations to come.

‘Deliberate’, ‘poetic’ and ‘highly respectful’ are the words Shannon uses to describe CFI Global’s innovative approach. His biggest challenge was not re-creating the restoration process, but establishing and delivering the scientific evidence that would allow landowners to choose CFI’s way of restoration versus old, less suitable models of river rehabilitation.

Shannon stays steadfast in his commitment to the unique, science-based approach today. CFI Global’s biologists serve clients throughout the world. Skelton would like to see more watersheds implementing the CFI Global rehabilitation process. His next goal is to educate landowners in good stewardship that create long-term legacies for the landowners’ families and set the example for landowners worldwide. http://cfiglobal.com/