Six volunteer groups in the Port Alberni area have received grants totaling $30,912 to support the conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon populations and habitat in British Columbia.
The grants were provided through the 2011 spring funding round of the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Community Salmon Program.
Recipients were:
u School District 70 ($10,000) for the Stream of Dreams campaign to enhance the district’s salmon curriculum. The project will see seven salmon-themed exterior fence murals in the region.
u Alberni Valley Enhancement Association ($6,500) for two projects: Deer Creek spawning gravel and off-channel improvement at Shannon Dairy; and a salmon monitoring project at Kitsuksis Creek.
u Uchucklesaht Tribe ($860) to buy an upgraded anchoring system to secure a counting fence to the river bottom in Lower Henderson Lake.
u Tofino Streamkeepers ($1,497) to create a year-round volunteer monitoring program for forage fish (fish that salmon feed on).
u Toquaht Nation ($3,000) for Phase 2 of the Macoah Creek rehabilitation project. This will see the gathering and anchoring of logs left from historic logging practices to create shelter and shade for migrating salmon.
u Ucluelet Aquarium Society ($9,055) to buy materials to build a salmon and wetlands exhibit in Phase 2 of the aquarium’s permanent facility.
“Volunteers are the unsung heroes of Pacific salmon sustainability,” said Pacific Salmon Foundation president and CEO Brian Riddell.
“Their impact on the environment can be seen throughout the province, from salmon hatcheries and stewardship centers to strategically placed rocks, trees and vegetation that protect salmon-bearing streams.”
The grants are a result of money raised through the Dinner Auction Derby Days Society’s annual Port Alberni “Hook and Slice” Golf Tournament and Fishing Derby and their annual fall dinner auction.
Over the past 12 years more than $600,000 has been raised by this local group and split between Pacific Salmon Foundation and Ducks Unlimited to support local projects including Somass Estuary conservation, the Nahmint Enhancement Team and the McLean Mill Coho hatchery.
editor@albernivalleynews.com