Salmon Public Outreach and Education 2021

The CTUIR proposes to utilize the PCSRF funding to support conservation and restoration efforts through public outreach and education. The Public Outreach & Education Specialist will educate the public and tribal community about the CTUIR’s First Foods Mission. This mission guides the CTUIR in the protection, restoration and enhancement of the First Foods, which include water, aquatic species, game and waterfowl species, rooting and fruiting plant species for the perpetual, cultural, economic and sovereign benefit of the CTUIR. Goals will be accomplished by utilizing traditional, ecological and cultural knowledge and science to inform the public about population and habitat management goals and actions and natural resource policies and regulatory mechanisms. CTUIR Aquatic and First Foods Public Education and Outreach will include the following 3 tasks, and will utilize public and social media platforms to educate and promote outreach events.



Task #1 Make a Splash: This is a two day event which hosts 500-600 fifth (5th) grade students annually. Students participate in indoor/outdoor interactive fun-filled, hands-on learning experiences. Educators focus on natural resource subjects including anadromous fish populations, healthy

watersheds, First Foods, tribal sovereignty and culture. CTUIR invites schools from northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington to attend the event. Schools are notified via email, phone and mail. Participating students, teachers and volunteers receive a full day of supplemental natural resource science based learning. Participants rotate through a total of 8 stations throughout the day. Topics include the following: Anadromous fish, residential freshwater fish and aquatic animals; Fresh water salmon and Pacific lamprey life cycles, habitats and propagation methods

related to their species; CTUIR First Foods, culture, history, language, sovereignty, and connection to place; Wildlife and habitat conservation and restoration; Forestry, agriculture, range and fire ecology; and the Importance of healthy water ways and ecological processes throughout the CTUIR’s land base and beyond. All stations and hands-on activities are taught by technical staff related to their subject matter and fields of study.



Task #2 Public Education and Outreach: This task is directly related to our various watershed and species restoration efforts throughout the year. Outreach methods include indoor and outdoor class presentations, workshops, trainings, field tours and service learning projects. We propose to provide outreach activities in the CTUIR ceded lands and usual and accustomed areas. Efforts will focuses on providing public education and outreach to the general public, local schools, and higher education institutes. Participants will learn the importance of the CTUIR’s efforts to protect, preserve and restore aquatic and First Food resources and how they impact the ecosystems and how they can help by making responsible choices and by respecting the environment around them. CTUIR also provides professional presentations to the local community, surrounding businesses, and state and federal organizations upon request.



Task #3 Return to the River Festival: This festival celebrates the return of the spring chinook to the Walla Walla River after being extinct for more than 80 years. CTUIR utilizes this festival to celebrate and educate the local community on how the CTUIR and other partnering agencies in the basin are working together to restore natural resources within the Walla Walla Valley and surrounding areas. Subject matter experts educate participants about anadromous fish, aquatic watershed and First Foods resource restoration efforts. The CTUIR invites partners to showcase their work within the basin. The festival includes over 20 different interactive booths covering a variety of natural resource topics.

Species that benefit from DNR’s outreach and education project include:

• ESA listed summer steelhead and bull trout,

• Reintroduced spring chinook and Pacific lamprey, and

• Inland redband trout and margined sculpin, listed as vulnerable under Oregon’s Sensitive

Species rule.

CTUIR DNR manages every component of the river basin system from a fully functional and diverse ecosystem perspective following Tamánwit and nature’s ecological law that all resources are important and connected to one another. Salmon is a critical resource along will all other

First Foods. They are ecologically related to each other and span across the landscape with vast biodiversity. They are reliant on one another as are the people who also rely on them. It is important that we manage our resources from ridgetop to ridgetop, down to the flood plain, and

onto the ocean. These projects supports the DNR First Foods management approach and also focus on the wildlife and plant species connected to the same habitat areas that directly benefit from aquatic species restoration efforts. Educating the public about the significance of ESA listed species will increase support for habitat restoration projects and fish protection. Through education and outreach efforts within the schools, students return home and share information with parents and family. This sharing of information supports restoration efforts by increasing awareness about natural resource management curriculum and the impacts that students can have on their natural environment. The goal is to create young stewards to carry the mantle of natural resource protection and preservation into the future. The CTUIR is also working to increase public support and stronger partnerships for future salmon and watershed restoration projects.