Programs
Restoration / Sakhalin "Salmon Park" Sakhalin Salmon Initiative
In 2004, the Siuslaw Basin Partnership (Siuslaw National Forest, Siuslaw Institute, Siuslaw Watershed Council and Siuslaw Soil and Water Conservation District) of coastal Oregon won the International Riverprize, a prestigious award for excellence in river management. Prize winners are encouraged to share their knowledge with another group in a different part of the world. The winning group from Oregon decided to share its knowledge of watershed restoration with Sakhalin island through the Wild Salmon Center – thus was born the Sakhalin River Restoration Partnership.
Applying Pacific Northwest concepts of watershed restoration to the Russian Far East turned out to be a more complicated task than initially assumed. Sakhalin's river basins differ from those of Oregon in terms of geomorphology and flooding regimes. They are also relatively much more pristine than Pacific Northwest rivers. As a result, the restoration effort on Sakhalin is currently in a scoping phase, seeking opportunities to successfully adapt American concepts of river restoration for use on Sakhalin.
Salmon Park
In the meantime, local SSI partners are pursuing the idea of establishing a "Salmon Park" on a river in the region of Dolinsk, located closely to the capitol city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The "Salmon Park" would be modeled closely upon the Cascade Streamwatch Center in Oregon. Per preliminary plans, the Sakhalin-based Center will include a salmon museum, a field education program for schoolchildren and an underwater viewing window. It will also serve as a site for demonstration restoration projects, furthering the restoration scoping effort on the island.
Download a copy of the 2008 work plan for this and other SSI projects.