Dear Friends of Wild Salmon,
Autumn has arrived and so too have the spring and fall chinook and coho salmon in streams throughout the Columbia Basin. Good news for Salmon Watchers everywhere!
World Salmon Council’s 2013 Salmon Watch program is educating more than 900 middle and high school students in the Portland metro and mid-Columbia Gorge areas this year. Participating schools in the Portland area include Lent, Creston, George Middle, Franklin High, Madison High, Grant High, Twality Middle, Centennial High, Winterhaven, DaVinci Arts Middle, Sunnyside Environmental, Riverdale High, Portland Waldorf High, Beaverton Health & Science, Beaverton High, Liberty High, and Forest Grove High. Mid-Columbia Gorge hub schools include The Dalles Middle, Hood River Middle, Hood River Valley High and Horizon Christian.
This summer World Salmon Council conducted three all-day Saturday training sessions for new teachers, volunteers and agency experts. More than 50 people participated in our training program this year. At these trainings, participants received a program overview, participated in hands-on activities, learned about salmon biology and related topics, and gained tools and techniques for becoming more effective outdoor educators.
Now that the school year has begun, participating teachers in local schools are educating their students about salmon in the classroom using the extensive Salmon Watch curriculum that has been developed over the past two decades. The curriculum includes instruction on salmonid biology, stream morphology, human impact on the environment, importance of salmon to Native American cultures in the Pacific Northwest, and much more. It allows students to engage in role-playing games, scientific data collection, art projects, research, expository writing exercises, and other educational activities.
This fall students are also relishing their all-day Salmon Watch field trips to nearby rivers. This is the highlight of the program. Salmon Watch field trips feature a nature walk, observation of spawning salmon, and hands-on activities such as sampling of aquatic insects, water quality monitoring, stream mapping, journaling, plant identification, and much more.
Teachers, World Salmon Council representatives, parents, agency experts, and trained community volunteers accompany students on these field trips. These diverse participants enable students to interact with an assortment of positive adult role models, receive individualized attention, and hear differing perspectives about the plight of the salmon. The average adult to student ratio on Salmon Watch field trips is 1:4.
This year we are most grateful for the dozens of scientific experts and volunteers who signed up to participate in Salmon Watch 2013. These include representatives from U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Portland General Electric Co., Trout Unlimited, The Freshwater Trust, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwest Power & Conservation Council, Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Geological Survey, National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacificorp, Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District, Oregon State Parks & Recreation Department, Pacificorp, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and numerous other organizations.
After their field trips, teachers and students will participate in Salmon Watch community service projects designed to benefit wild salmon and the watersheds in which they live. These varied projects may include hands-on stream restoration work, spawning surveys, educating other citizens about salmon, art projects, and much more. These projects are designed to engage and channel student enthusiasm, creativity and initiative and to encourage them to become conscientious, life-long stewards of our natural world.
This fall as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Salmon Watch, World Salmon Council would like to thank the many students, teachers, volunteers, agency experts, parents, and Oregon Trout/The Freshwater Trust staff who have been involved in the program over the past two decades. We would also like to express our thanks to the many philanthropic individuals, foundations, businesses, agencies, and other organizations that have so generously supported the program for many years. Together we have educated more than 60,000 students in Oregon.
With your continued support, Salmon Watch will educate thousands more young people throughout the Pacific Northwest in the coming decades. This is World Salmon Council’s raison d’etre and our pledge to you. We look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
With gratitude,
Lizanne Saunders Executive Director
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