Wild Fish Conservancy Programs
Wild Fish Conservancy researches factors that have contributed to wild salmon declines and that may impact their recovery, including habitat preservation and restoration, commercial and sport harvest management, and hatchery practices. WFC conducts and disseminates research on the status and recovery needs of wild fish populations and their habitats, advocates for resource management changes, and implements model habitat-restoration projects.
WFC raises public awareness through educational outreach programs, membership campaigns, online, media reports, and participating in educational programs and events. WFC's Environmental Discovery Program offers students from Seattle and Snoqualmie Valley area schools a three-day, hands-on classroom and field-based environmental education that emphasizes the importance of native plants, native animals, and healthy ecosystems. This program has served thousands of students since its inception. WFC offers classroom/field-based education programs focused on teaching the scientific process and encouraging elementary and secondary school students to think critically. Currently, we offer three programs, Environmental Discovery Program, Window to Discovery Project, and the Icicle Creek Partnership. We are raising the bar on educating students about the ecology of their communities and creating a foundation for future awareness, commitment, and involvement in pressing environmental issues
WFC conducts research and monitoring to preserve, protect and restore inland waters and nearshore habitats. We develop and implement ecological process restoration initiatives that recover ecosystem functions and recreate habitat systems. These projects serve as models for similar efforts throughout the region. While it is important to develop effective restoration strategies, a critical goal of our science programs is ecosystem protection, to prevent functioning habitats from being lost or damaged
WFC promotes scientifically credible, socially responsible wild fish conservation. WFC advocates that federal, state, and local resource managers acknowledge/address risks and uncertainties, question faulty assumptions using best available science and enforce environmental protection regulations so that conservation-responsibilities are objective and equitable. WFC is making fisheries management more transparent, and advocating for the implementation of effective land-use and water-quality regulations
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Approximately, 70% of Washington stream reaches are misclassified on regulatory maps used by state and local resource agencies to guide environmental protections for those streams reaches. Consequently, hundreds of miles of fish habitats are not receiving the protection they warrant under existing regulations. After identifying this issue, our water-typing projects have corrected the classification of over 7000 stream reaches statewide, qualifying them for improved protection
Over 1.5 billion dollars have been spent on much needed habitat improvement and water quality projects in last 10 years since the Puget Sound Chinook was ESA listed. The controversial issue of over harvest has been willfully ignored by agency managers. We are seeking funding to support the implementation of our sustainable harvest campaign to elevate awareness of the over harvest issue and how it is hindering recovery. Our goal is to achieve sustainable harvest practices.