Letters from the Community

Hi.  I am Yoshini Guanawardena and a World Salmon Council Board member.  I work as a graphic designer at ISITE Design in Portland.  I’m also a Salmon Watch alumna.

I participated in the program a decade ago as a high school student at Westview High School in Beaverton, Oregon.  In my senior year I was involved in Salmon Watch when  I took an AP Biology class with science teacher, Debbie Cooper. It was an experience I will never forget.

I learned a great deal from the classroom instruction.  I learned the most, however, from the opportunity to go out on the river and interact with the salmon first hand.  I have vivid memories of being at Humbug Creek and talking to agency experts about the plight of wild salmon.  I think the most important lesson that Salmon Watch instilled in me is that there is still hope that I can make a positive impact on our natural environment.

If we are lucky, we humans create an invaluable personal connection with nature over a lifetime. This connection not only affects the life of the planet, but our own growth as individuals.  I believe that the earlier in life that we begin to develop this relationship with our natural world, the stronger the connection becomes.  I feel fortunate that this connection runs deeply in my own Northwest upbringing.

Many inner city youth, however, do not have the opportunity to spend time in nature.  Salmon Watch enables adolescents, some of whom may never otherwise experience first hand the wonders of nature, to understand the importance of wild salmon conservation and healthy watersheds. Consequently the Salmon Watch program is very near and dear to my heart.

I have recently joined the World Salmon Council Board because of the positive impact that Salmon Watch had on my own life.  I find it fortuitous that I went from being a Salmon Watch student to becoming a Board member of the organization founded to ensure that other young people have this meaningful experience.  I love that I am now able to use my creative skills to give back to a program that gave so much to me.  Moat of all, I look forward to being a Salmon Watch volunteer and getting out on the river this fall to inspire children the way I was inspired 10 years ago.

In order for the Salmon Watch program to grow and thrive, it needs to be generously supported by our community.  With your support, World Salmon Council can ensure that future generations of children will have the opportunity to feel the same wonder for salmon and rivers that I experienced at their impressionable age through Salmon Watch.