Wild Salmon Center Pressroom
Our Newsletter
Volume III, Issue 1, February - March 2005
Dear Wild Salmon Center Friend
The beginning of 2005 has ushered in exciting news and major accomplishments from both sides of the Pacific.
The Wild Salmon Center is dedicated to the protection of the Hoh River in Washington's Olympic Peninsula—one of the last pristine watersheds in the continental United States and spawning grounds of six species of wild Pacific salmon. I'm proud to announce that we, along with our land acquisition partners at Western River Conservancy, have successfully safeguarded a significant portion of the Hoh River corridor—4,800 acres, half of all the commercially available lands—through the creation of the Hoh River Trust. This important conservation victory will safeguard key salmon strongholds and, more broadly, serve as a model for similar whole-basin protection initiatives.
On the other side of the Pacific, on the Russian coast of the Sea of Japan, we have partnered with local NGOs and Terneiles, a Russian logging company, in an effort to secure protected status for more than one quarter—625,000 acres—of the 2 million acre Samarga River basin. Meanwhile in Sakhalin, the Wild Salmon Center has had a major impact on fisheries management policy through our sponsorship of the Russian language publication of Salmon Without Rivers by Dr. James Lichatowich.
Enjoy the newsletter. As always, we continue to be grateful for your support and interest in our work.
Warm regards,
Guido Rahr, President and CEO
In This Issue
- Salmon Habitat Protected in Perpetuity on the Hoh
- RussianTranslation of Salmon without Rivers Affects Policy on Sakhalin
- Tillamook rainforest update
- Salmon 2100: A Strategy to Anchor and Expand the Remaining Wild Salmon Strongholds
- Salmon News Links
- Upcoming Events
- salmon habitat protected in perpetuity on the Hoh
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The Wild Salmon Center, along with our partners at Western River Conservancy, announces the creation of the Hoh River Trust, which recently accepted the transfer of 4,500 acres – more than half of all available lands along the Hoh River corridor in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The rivers and forest landsof the Hoh River corridor will remain available and open to the public for angling, hiking, boating and other sustainable recreation uses.
The creation of the Hoh River Trust was made possible by leveraging federal funds made available through the Endangered Species Act. The strategy promises sky-high return on investment of this invaluable property.
The Hoh River corridor includes some of the most important salmon rearing tributaries and off-channel habitat remaining in the continental United States. With healthy salmon runs, pristine and protected headwaters, an absence of fish passage problems and no significant hatchery influences, the Hoh River offers an unparalleled opportunity for full-spectrum habitat protection on behalf of wild salmon.
The Hoh River Trust is a private non-profit organization dedicated to providing long-term conservation stewardship within the Hoh River corridor for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. The Trust’s board of advisors will include local scientific, tribal and philanthropic leaders and create an endowment used to protect and maintain this salmon stronghold.
- Russian translation of salmon without rivers affects policy on sakhalin
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With funding from Wild Salmon Center and the hard work of our Russian partners, Jim Lichatowich's
acclaimed book Salmon without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis is now available in Russia. Translated
by the Kamchatka League of Independent Experts, edited by ichthyologist Dr. Sergey F. Zolotukhin, and published in Russia by
ISAR-RFE, the Russian edition of Salmon Without Rivers has quickly become one of the most important and credible sources of
information on fisheries management policy available to Russian salmon advocates and journalists.
In mid-January, Sergei Podolyan, Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency blocked the Sakhalin Island Administration's plans to dramatically expand hatchery production by stating that Moscow would not fund new hatchery construction in areas with strong natural pink salmon production. The following day Felix Rukhlov, one of the most authoritative fisheries experts on Sakhalin, published a lengthy newspaper article supporting this position, and made direct reference to Salmon Without Rivers.
The introduction to the Russian version of Salmon Without Rivers is on our website.
- Tillamook rainforest update
- The Tillamook initiative (Measure 34) sent a clear message that more must be done to protect salmon habitat in the Tillamook state forest. The Wild Salmon Center is engaging in discussions with state legislators, the governor’s office and the department of forestry to win protection of key habitats – “anchor habitats” totaling 100,000 acres. If successful, these efforts will secure the Tillamook as a stronghold for wild salmon. Find out more.
- Salmon 2100: a strategy to anchor and expand the remaining wild salmon strongholds
- Wild Salmon Center President and CEO, Guido Rahr, along with Science Director Xanthippe Augerot, presented their paper, "A Strategy to Anchor and Expand the Remaining Wild Salmon Strongholds" at the 41st annual meeting of the Oregon American Fisheries Society. The presentation took place as part of a session entitled Salmon 2100 Project: What will it take to restore Northwest Salmon? The abstract is available on our web site.
- Salmon news links
- upcoming events
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Sunday, April 17, 2005 – Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Additional workshops Thursday, April 21, 2005
Anchorage, AlaskaState of the Salmon will host an international conference entitled "Building the New Agenda for North Pacific Salmon Conservation." Panel discussions feature distinguished leaders in salmon science, policy, and communications. Keynote addresses will be given by The Honorable John Fraser (Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council), Ms. Fran Ulmer (former Lt. Governor of Alaska), and Dr. Nate Mantua (University of Washington Climate Impact Group).
For more information please visit the State of the Salmon website.