Programs
Accomplishments
Launched the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership, a public-private initiative to demonstrate that human communities, economies and healthy salmon populations can coexist.
Produced a regional salmon conservation strategy, titled "A Proactive Strategy to Anchor and Restore High-Priority Wild Salmon Ecosystems." The strategy was presented at several conferences and published in a book, titled "Salmon 2100: The Future of Wild Pacific Salmon."
Authored technical reports and scientific papers to describe and share the groundbreaking results of six years of salmonid research and monitoring on the Olympic Peninsula. One report identifies tributaries critical to salmon conservation in the Hoh River Basin, while another offers a detailed fish monitoring plan for the region that is transferable to many other watersheds. Scientific papers have been co-authored by the scientists from the Wild Salmon Center and NOAA Fisheries. One paper has been accepted for publication in the Transaction of American Fisheries Society Journal. It is the first published manuscript to provide detailed observations of the mating habits between steelhead and rainbow trout.
Washington State
- Provided key support for the acquisition of 4,700 acres by Western Rivers Conservancy along the Hoh River, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Today, most of the private land along the Hoh River is protected, creating a conservation corridor between the Olympic National Park and the Pacific Ocean.
- Worked in partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy to establish the Hoh River Trust to manage lands and support the long-term conservation of the Hoh River ecosystem. The Trust is now financially self-sustaining, and is leading the protection and restoration of habitats in the Hoh River watershed.
- Created the Elk Creek Salmon Refuge on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. With support from public and private partners, we completed purchase of critical habitat along Elk Creek, a vital spawning and rearing tributary for wild salmon and steelhead in the Calawah River Basin.
Oregon State
- Worked with a coalition of conservation groups to protect key salmon "anchor" habitats along five rivers in the 500,000-acre Tillamook and Clatsop State Forest in Northwest Oregon.
- Supported the establishment of the John Day Basin Trust. Now completely independent of the Wild Salmon Center, the Trust provides important resources and support of local conservation efforts in the John Day, the longest un-dammed river in the Columbia River basin and a key stronghold for wild spring chinook salmon, summer steelhead, bull trout, rainbow trout and westslope cutthroat trout.
- Developed a synthesized conservation plan for the John Day Basin and worked with a wide range of partners to identify and implement high priority conservation actions.