Salmon Recovery Outreach and Education

The Colville Tribes completed research, writing, and development of a traveling educational display. The display was used in numerous classroom presentations, open houses, workshops, and a series of public salmon festivals, which took place in both the U.S. and Canada. Tribal Fish and Wildlife staff used the display as a stand alone educational device, as well as a mechanism to generate interactive discussions with members of the public. The display was used at multiple venues including a series of Okanogan Basin Salmon Festivals, middle school educational events, and workshops. The finished display included panels identifying the historical and cultural role of salmon to the Tribes, information highlighting key factors limiting salmon natural productivity in the Okanogan Basin, discussion of basinwide factors leading to declining salmon populations, salmon life cycles, the economic impacts of salmon, and examples of ongoing salmon recovery activities. Accompanying materials included notebooks documenting local and regional salmon history, historical recovery documents, the Tribes recovery program, handouts identifying opportunities for students to enter careers in fisheries and natural resource management, and notebooks collecting student comments and stories.

Improve effectiveness of salmon recovery activities by increasing public awareness and understanding of those activities.