Volunteer 'salmon watchers' needed for 10th year

2005 Archived News

Volunteer "salmon watchers" are needed to help collect information about where salmon are spawning in local streams and where barriers exist to salmon migration.

For nine years, dedicated volunteers have been watching for salmon along streams and shorelines in the Lake Washington watershed and on Vashon Island. Twice a week from September through December, volunteers gather information that scientists and policy-makers use to make decisions for salmon recovery efforts.

The Salmon Watcher Program has scheduled five workshops to explain how volunteers should identify and record species and numbers of spawning salmonids:

• Wednesday, Aug. 31, Renton Community Center, Room B, 1715 Maple Valley Highway
• Thursday, Sept. 8, North Bellevue Community Center, 4063 148th Ave. N.E.
• Tuesday, Sept. 13, Woodinville City Hall, 17301 133rd Ave. N.E.
• Wednesday, Sept. 14, Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle
• Thursday, Sept. 15, Odle Middle School Library, 14401 N.E. Eighth St., Bellevue.

One field training session will also be held during the fall to help volunteers identify the different salmonid species. Time and location will be handed out at the workshops.

The salmon-watching areas are in these drainage basins: Bear Creek, Cedar River, east and west Lake Sammamish, Sammamish River tributaries, east and west Lake Washington, north Lake Washington tributaries, Issaquah Creek, central Puget Sound and Vashon Island.

This program is conducted in cooperation with the King County Water and Land Resources Division; Bellevue Stream Team; Redmond Stream Team; cities of Seattle, Bothell, Kirkland, Renton and Woodinville; and Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust, with support from the King Conservation District.

For more information about the Salmon Watcher Program, visit the project Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/salmon/ -- or contact Jennifer Vanderhoof at 206-263-6533 or jennifer.vanderhoof@kingcounty.gov.