News

 


Salmon Fest Celebrates the Return of “School Days” & Salmon! »

.: Events :., .: Friends :. Category, submitted August 24th, 2022

The Friends of Northwest Hatcheries and Wenatchee River Salmon Festival event organizers are excited to announce the return of Salmon Fest School Days in September 2022! After a 2 year hiatus due to Covid precautions, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome back students from around the region, and to a new location at the Chelan PUD’s Rocky Reach Dam and Discovery Center. While School Days have returned, the public Community Day will have to wait another year.

Salmon Fest’s Education Coordinator, Marjorie Lodwik says of this year’s event, “We are so excited to be able to bring this event back for the first time since 2019, but due to complications with the construction on hatchery infrastructure projects and limitations with both FWS and Friends of NW Hatcheries/Salmon Fest staff, a few weeks ago it became clear that a successful event at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery would be incredibly challenging to pull off. Luckily, our wonderful partner, Chelan County PUD, offered their Rocky Reach Dam facility for this year’s event. They have extensive grassy grounds, a brand new interactive visitor center, and can accommodate a large number of buses for the school days.”

She continues, “Unfortunately they won’t be able to host the public event on Saturday, but we have heard from many teachers, students, and their families that are so excited to be coming to the festival’s school days this year on September 15th and 16th. While we are sad that the festival can’t take place a the fish hatchery, we are very thankful for all of the hard work that the PUD and the rest of the Salmon Festival Team have put in to make this new location work!”

Read the official Press Release from the Directors of Salmon Fest below.

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Wenatchee River Salmon Festival “School Days” September 15th and 16th, 2022

Wenatchee, Washington — “Celebrate the Return of the Salmon”, at the 30th Anniversary of the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival!  Our two “School Days” will be ready to host North Central Washington students on September 15th and 16th, 2022 at Rocky Reach Dam and Discovery Center.  Students will explore and experience natural resource education at its finest! Salmon Fest has been the recipient of multiple awards, including, “Best Children’s Program”, by the International Festivals and Events Association.  The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival 2022 is an event devoted to engaging students at a venue that is both educational and fun.  Our Festival mission is to connect people of all ages to nature, and help build discovery and appreciation of the diversity and importance of the great outdoors.  The beautiful grounds overlooking the mighty Columbia River are managed by the Chelan PUD’s Rocky Reach Dam.  This unique venue will transform into an extraordinary outdoor classroom for this year’s Salmon Fest event.  Students will become part of “River Ramble” and a Native American Village receiving a powerful inter-tribal cultural experience.  Learning about nature from top Pacific Northwest natural resource specialists means students will gain first-hand knowledge about fish and wildlife, healthy habitats, and watersheds.  There is magic when Salmon Fest happens.  Students receive unique opportunities to be eye-to-eye with a fish, create gyotaku art, and share in a “Salmon Experience” together.  For more information, swim to our website salmonfest.org or call 509.548.6662 ext 226.

The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival is hosted by Friends of NW Hatcheries, Chelan PUD, USFWS-Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests, and the Bureau of Reclamation.


Newly Improved Story Trail at LNFH »

.: Friends :. Category, submitted May 24th, 2021

The Story Trail at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery keeps on getting better. In July 2020, the hatchery staff reached out to Friends of Northwest Hatcheries for help with a project aimed at engaging young preschool and school age hikers on the local Icicle Creek Nature Trail, an existing interpretive trail. The project was called Story Trail because it involved posting up a children’s book low on the interpretive sign posts. FNH’s secretary, Courtney Feeney, volunteered herself and her two boys to do the work of cutting, getting the pages laminated and posting up the first story.

After a few early tweaks, everyone agreed that the Story Trail project complimented the trail nicely. Bringing art, early literacy and environmental education onto the trail enhanced the hiking experience for young students and their families during a time when school resources were limited due to the lockdown.

The Story Trail project caught the attention of another local family interested in volunteering at the Leavenworth Hatchery. Mother and son team, Dara and Olyn Shultz, contributed their expertise and in coordination with hatchery staff continued work to improve it. Dara reached out to Washington based publishing company, Sasquatch Books, to get permission to download the PDF version of “Why Do I Sing” and print it on durable, weather resistant paper provided by the hatchery. Wood was also provided by the hatchery to create a stable place for Story Trail pages on the sign posts. Olyn, a local Boy Scout, finished the boards and attached the boards and pages (perfectly) to the sign posts.

 


FNH Supports Salmon In Schools »

.: Friends :. Category, submitted January 12th, 2021

The Friends of Northwest Hatcheries has become an official sponsor of the Salmon In Schools program organized by Sound Salmon Solutions in Mukilteo, WA in partnership with the Willow Creek Fish Hatchery. The program will be similar to the Salmon in the Classroom programs that are organized in the Wenatchee Valley by Cascade Fisheries and supported by the Yakama Nation Fisheries and Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. These programs offer teachers and students an opportunity to watch salmon develop from eggs to fry to fish before they aide in their release into a local waterway. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and closures during the 2020/2021 school year, these programs have gone virtual including livestreams of fish tanks so that teachers and students can still witness fish development and use these videos as learning tools. The live streams will run from Jan 10 – March 11, 2021 after which the fish will be transferred to ponds at the hatchery to grow larger and develop further. Additional videos that will serve as virtual field trips will highlight the stages of development. Check out the new website for the 2021 program including the virtual fieldtrip video at tinyurl.com/SalmoninSchools2021

Watch Coho Salmon LIVE below between Jan – March 2021 in their tank in Mukilteo, WA. Or, watch it on the Sound Salmon Solutions YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/SISlivestreamtank

Below is the Live Feed from a tank in Wenatchee, WA supported by Cascade Fisheries. Video will be available between Jan – March 2021.

 

Thanks to Sound Salmon Solutions and Cascade Fisheries for organizing these programs!


Salmon Fest Launches New Website »

.: Events :., .: Friends :. Category, submitted January 5th, 2021

The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, presented by Friends of Northwest Hatcheries, has a beautiful brand new website!

The new website better conveys the full of extent of this important annual event and provides valuable resources and info that is easy for festival attendees, teachers, partners, and supporters to find. Know what to expect, get the most out of your experience, and plan your trip to the next Salmon Fest!

Check it out at http://www.salmonfest.org/


New Story Trail at LNFH »

.: Friends :. Category, submitted September 14th, 2020

Friends of Northwest Hatcheries is helping to celebrate early literacy and environmental education at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery in Leavenworth, Washington.  Staff and Friends’ volunteers are working together to add colorful media to the existing interpretive sign posts.  The media varies during the year from pages of a nature themed children’s book to fish shapes to footprints.  School aged kids can read the story aloud and preschoolers can count the fish or footprints.  The trail has spectacular views of the Sleeping Lady and the Icicle Creek.  Continue on past the Icicle Creek Nature Trail to get more exercise and enjoy the trails at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.


New Salmon Art at Makah National Fish Hatchery »

.: Friends :. Category, submitted June 10th, 2020

The Makah National Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Neah Bay, WA is getting some new tribal art that celebrates and honors the importance and influence of salmon to the Makah culture. Commissioned pieces include a red cedar carving (14″ x 58″) Steelhead plaque carved with abalone inlay and treated with lemon oil, some wooden fish dissection puzzles, and more. These art pieces will be available to be enjoyed by all who enter the Visitor Center as soon as it reopens following the shutdown related to Covid-19.

Red cedar carving Steelhead plaque

The Makah National Fish Hatchery is a part of the Olympic Peninsula Fisheries Complex. Many thanks to the artists, coordinators, and our funding partners. This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. Also supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Due to Covid-19 Wenatchee River Salmon Festival Cancelled for 2020 »

.: Events :., .: Friends :. Category, submitted May 14th, 2020

Wenatchee River Salmon Festival Cancelled for 2020

As the largest and main event supported by Friends of Northwest Hatcheries, we are sad to report that the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival has been cancelled for 2020 due to Covid-19.  Please see their Press Release below.  We look forward to working with them through 2020 and into 2021 to help them plan for celebrating the 30th anniversary event in Sept 2021.

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NEWS RELEASE FROM THE WENATCHEE RIVER SALMON FESTIVAL

Leavenworth, Washington: Due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting all of us in many ways, the much-beloved award- winning Wenatchee River Salmon Festival (Salmon Fest) has been cancelled in 2020. This year’s event was scheduled to be held at the beautiful Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery on the days of September 17th – 19th. The popular north-central Washington nature festival will now begin looking forward to creating a special 30th Anniversary celebration, “Salmon of the Future,” to be held September 15-18, 2021. Festival organizers will follow all required guidelines for public health and safety concerns during all phases of planning during these most challenging times.

An educational event on the scale of Salmon Fest hosts approximately 2,500 students and pulls in hundreds of volunteers. Natural resource and recreation specialists, community exhibitors, multi-cultural tribal educators, and other participants from throughout the entire Pacific Northwest are included. The public day can draw more than 4,000 attendees.

“The health and welfare of our festival visitors, students, volunteers, and community residents are top priority for the Salmon Fest planning team,” Festival Co-Directors Corky Broaddus and Hailey Croci clearly state. “During this coronavirus time of our lives, we truly are concerned about the health and safety of all of our dedicated festival staff that work in every capacity of Salmon Fest management and operations. We thank our festival agency and non-profit partners and community contributors in helping us come to this hard cancellation decision.”

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service managers of Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery agree. “Hosting a big public event this year presents far too many obstacles and concerns,” Visitor Services Manager Julia Pinnix noted. “Our first priority must be health and safety. Postponing the event until 2021 is a wise choice.”

The Salmon Fest is a hands-on outdoor event whose mission is to connect people and nature by providing opportunities that create meaningful and enriching outdoor interpretation and education. A visit to Salmon Fest builds life skills and experiences reaching out to all ages about the wonder of science, nature, and culture. Please join us in 2021 to share a “salmon experience” with us during next year’s upcoming Wenatchee River Salmon Festival “Salmon of the Future” celebration! For updates on the event, visit salmonfest.org and follow the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival on Facebook.

 

Contact: Corky Broaddus, Festival Director, 509.548.6662, director@salmonfest.org

 

See the official Wenatchee River Salmon Festival News Release


Leavenworth Unplugged Summer Event Series »

.: Events :., .: Friends :. Category, submitted June 5th, 2019

UNPLUG to RECONNECT with Nature, Family & Friends!

Leavenworth Unplugged, presented by Friends of Northwest Hatcheries and hosted by the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery is a series of casual social gatherings through the summer months on the beautiful Fish Hatchery property off of Icicle Road. Each event will feature a fun new conservation-focused goal/theme and educational activities for kids and adults. These events are meant to entice friends and families to spend more time outdoors together, unplugged from technology, to reconnect with nature and each other.

The events will be held on the third Monday of May, June, July, and August from 6:30 – 7:30pm.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for details on the activities planned for each event!


Looking for Volunteers & Members »

.: Friends :. Category, submitted April 19th, 2019

Join us!

If you are passionate about conservation, environmental stewardship, science-based education, and helping to provide outdoor and hands-on activities for students and the public around the Northwest, please consider joining the FNWH!

Want to join the Board…?
The Friends of Northwest Hatcheries has had a long and successful history of providing outdoor, education and conservation-based activities, but it could use your help! We are currently on the hunt for several additional volunteers to join the board to help it thrive for the next generation of students around the Northwest. The board meets once per month at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Contact us if you’d like to attend a meeting to sit in and learn more about us.

Or, become a Member!
We are also looking for new members! If you are interested in supporting the FNWH mission, but don’t have the time or bandwidth to be on the board, you can still join as a Member. Membership fees go directly towards supporting a range of activities and events connected with hatcheries and fisheries across the Northwest. You can find the membership application here, or get a printed copy at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Visitor Center.

 

Friends Board & Service Staff Partners – March 2019


Salmon Fest Family Day Has Returned! »

.: Events :., .: Friends :. Category, submitted June 21st, 2018

Salmon Fest Family Day Has Returned!

The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival (Salmon Fest) & Friends of NW Hatcheries Find Support from Local Wenatchee Valley Communities

Great news! Some of you may have heard this past winter that the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, also known as Salmon Fest, and their major supporter, the Friends of Northwest Hatcheries, were in need of some help from the community. Several long-term board members were retiring leaving a large hole to fill for this typically under-the-radar organization and their more widely-known and popular Salmon Fest – focused annual event. A community meeting was held at the Leavenworth Fire Hall in January 2018, where remaining board members and representatives from the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, discussed the dire situation and what would be needed to continue to put on this 28-year old award winning outdoor recreation and education event at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery along Icicle Creek.

That night, the call was answered when several members of the Leavenworth community stepped forward and committed to helping ensure a bright future for Salmon Fest and the Friends of NW Hatcheries.  In February, a new Salmon Fest board was formed as a separate board, solely focused on the success of this annual event. With this new structure, the Friends group is well suited to grow and diversify its support for wildlife education and outdoor recreation programs throughout the northwest and the Salmon Fest team can work on providing the best possible experiences for students and the public during the 3 day annual event in Leavenworth. Plan to bring your family and friends to this free event happening during the days of September 20 – 22, 2018, with the return of the popular public Family Day on Saturday the 22nd.

Salmon Fest is a two-day natural resource education event held every fall to celebrate the return of the salmon to the Wenatchee River. The Festival is held on the grounds of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, located at the mouth of the scenic Icicle Canyon near Leavenworth, Washington. An exciting menu of hands-on activities and “edutainment” gives students from throughout North Central Washington a unique opportunity to discover and appreciate the complexities of the natural world and the significance of salmon to people of the northwest. Since its inception in 1991, the Festival has remained true to its natural resource education mission while updating and augmenting activities to keep the messages fresh, timely and engaging. In response, the event has become nationally recognized for its educational excellence.

In mid-June, the new Friends Board was joined by representatives from a dozen fishery hatcheries and conservation offices from across the Pacific Northwest plus two nationally recognized Friends Group Mentors for a 2-day workshop to build a plan for the future. By all initial accounts, this important Mentorship meeting was a huge success and a plan is in now in place to help the Friends group support more programs and projects throughout the region. While the new Board members are getting settled into their new roles, the call for additional assistance from the community continues.

The Friends of NW Hatcheries is looking for people and organizations who would like to support the Friends mission by signing up to become members and several more passionate individuals who would be interested in joining committees.  Based in Leavenworth, Washington, the Friends of NW Hatcheries is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports wildlife education and outdoor recreation opportunities that promote responsible environmental conservation and stewardship in connection with fisheries and hatcheries around the Pacific Northwest. Funding for these programs come from grants, sponsorships, fundraising events, and membership fees.

Salmon Fest is also looking for volunteers who are available to help with this year’s event on September 20 – 22, 2018 at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.  Please call 509-548-6662 ext. 226 for more information.

If you would be interested in helping the Friends group, or the Salmon Fest team, please contact:

Signing up to be a member of the Friends group is easy! Download the membership application and mail a completed copy with your membership dues. Membership is only $5/year for seniors and students, $10/year for individuals, and $15 for families through the end of 2018.

From all of us to all of you, thank you for your continued support of natural resource education and environmental stewardship and conservation!