The South Fork Eel River watershed is part of the Eel River system located on the North Coast of California in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties. The South Fork Eel River watershed covers 440,572 acres with elevations ranging from 100 to 4,500 feet. It contains 713 miles of stream, according to USGS maps. About 81 percent of the watershed is under private ownership. It contains approximately 80 percent of the major stream miles (i.e., those with important fish habitat) in the watershed. These private lands have been and are being used for intensive timber harvesting, livestock grazing, and dispersed rural development.

The 4,055 acre Angelo Coast Preserve is contiguous with Bureau of Land Mmanagement land and contains one of California=s largest remaining old-growth Douglass-fir forests, as well as several pristine stream systems. Originally acquired by the Angelo family, the Nature Conservancy established a preserve in 1959 and in 1994 transferred title to the University of California.

US Highway 101 is a major throughfare located adjacent to the South Fork Eel River from its confluence with the mainstem to the community of Legget. Average daily number of vehicles passing Garberville on Highway 101 is 6,400 (Calif. Dept. of Transportation unpublished data, 1993).The number of vehicles peaks in July at 8,300 vehicles per day. There is insufficient data to thoroughly assess the current condition of habitat in the South Fork of the Eel River; however, some obvious statements can be made for the Eel River watershed as a whole. Land management practices, including road building, logging, and rural development, in combination with the flood events in 1955 and 1964, have caused considerable impacts to sediment loads and have greatly impacted fish habitat. Current watershed conditions, especially the density of roads, leave the basin at risk of further impacts to fish habitat when another large flood event occurs. Some sub-watersheds contain better fish habitat than others. Those sub-watersheds with fewer roads or where roads are well designed and maintained, can be expected to suffer less impacts from the next large flood and thus may offer refugia of better fish habitat within the South Fork Eel River. (Bureau of Land Management South Fork Eel River Watershed Analysis 1996).