World Salmon Council recently had the privilege of participating in the Willamette River Festival!
Taking place at the Cathedral Park Waterfront, the festival featured diverse live music performances, lots of fun activities, and information booths operated by many local environmentally-focused nonprofits, including us. The World Salmon Council booth showcased our four field trip stations: Fish Biology, Macroinvertebrate Sampling, Water Quality Testing, and Riparian Observation. Kids at the festival enjoyed playing with the macroinvertebrate magnification chamber and salmon life stage teaching tool, as well as playing a board game about the salmon life cycle called “Race To The Redd.” In addition, we signed up several new Volunteer Educators for our upcoming 2016 Field Trip Season, and overall enjoyed the opportunity to meet members of the local community and help educate about the importance of our beautiful salmon spawning rivers.
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The festival kicked off with the launch of two wooden boats that were hand-built by students at George Middle School with the help of Wind & Oar Boat School. One of our partner agencies, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, was present with salmon experts on hand, as well as an aquarium filled with salmon and steelhead smolts. The festival was closed by a parade of volunteers carrying silk salmon windsocks that weaved through the crowds and waved back and forth to the live music. The salmon windsocks were created by the Salmon Is Life art troupe, which traveled to the Paris Climate Talks this past December to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change on salmon and the ecosystems with which they interconnect.
The Willamette River Festival in part hoped to raise awareness about the cleanup of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site adjacent to the river, and to collect public comments about this process. The festival also had the mission of reconnecting residents with the river as a commons shared by all surrounding community members. World Salmon Council enjoyed the opportunity to meet members of the local community and help educate about the importance of our beautiful salmon spawning rivers!
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