Changemaker
Sarah Gallagher
TL;DR
Sarah Gallagher was one of two people Trout Unlimited put on camera when the Mendocino coho came back in record numbers. Her department leads the survey teams that produce those counts, with money from NOAA Fisheries.
Gallagher's job title at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is senior environmental scientist. Her work sits on the Mendocino Coast, where the state runs the spawning surveys.
NOAA Fisheries named Gallagher in its feature of March 26, 2026 on the 30,000 adult coho that returned to Mendocino Coast rivers. “Finding them in places where they have not been was really exciting,” she said.
Those places included Usal Creek, where no coho had been seen since 2014, and the Gualala River, where none had been recorded for about twenty years.
Why OGSP Recommends It
One Good Story Project recommends Sarah Gallagher because her fieldwork helps show whether coho salmon recovery efforts are actually working. As a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, she contributes to monitoring across roughly 500 miles of Mendocino Coast habitat.
During a season when about 30,000 adult coho returned, compared with a ten-year average of roughly 3,000, Gallagher helped document fish appearing in places where they hadn’t been seen before. Her work gives communities evidence that years of habitat restoration are beginning to make a difference.
Related Resources
Key Takeaways
- Works for the state agency responsible for California's fish, wildlife and plant habitat.
- The 2024 to 2025 season brought about 30,000 adult coho back to Mendocino Coast rivers.
- Trout Unlimited published the film she appears in on April 2, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sarah Gallagher?
She is a senior environmental scientist with California's state wildlife agency. NOAA Fisheries named her in March 2026 when it reported the record return.
What film is Sarah Gallagher in?
Celebrating Mendocino Coho Returns, four minutes long, shot on the banks of the South Fork Noyo River with Anna Halligan of Trout Unlimited.
Which agency does Sarah Gallagher work for?
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Its teams run the Mendocino Coast spawning surveys with funding from NOAA Fisheries, and its site is wildlife.ca.gov.
How much of the Mendocino Coast is monitored for coho?
NOAA Fisheries says about 500 miles of habitat are monitored. The 2024 to 2025 season brought the first coho seen in Usal Creek since 2014 and the first in the Gualala River in about twenty years.