Washington’s 48-hour Give Big event is coming up May 7^th and 8^th and early giving is open now!

Help us raise $3,500 to support our growing education programs. With free education programs provided to schools across the north side of the Olympic Peninsula and low-cost community education, NOSC seeks to educate the next generation of salmon stewards by providing hands-on learning about salmon, restoration, and watershed health in our community!

A gift of $25 provides trees and shrubs for a restoration project designed by 5 students.

A gift of $50 provides program journals for 30 students.

A gift of $150 funds a teacher training for managing a salmon tank.

A gift of $350 provides bus transportation for a Real Learning Real Work field trip.

Give now to support high-quality, place-based education programs for all ages!

Real Learning Real Work – Middle School: Over the course of this year-long program, students apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills to design and implement their own salmon restoration project at a local stream.

Stream Stewards – Community: Hosted by Washington State University Extension and the North Olympic Salmon Coalition, this 5-week course provides Jefferson and Clallam County residents with the opportunity to turn environmental knowledge into action through learning about connections between our lands and waters.

Other school programs include stewardship days on restoration sites, macroinvertebrate studies, and guest lectures!

Find out more about NOSC’s education programs by visiting Education | North Olympic Salmon Coalition (nosc.org)

Top: Salish Coast Elementary students holding up coho salmon fry, ready to be released during Salmon in the Schools field trip. Above Left: Education and Outreach Coordinator, Lindsay McCord teaching in Salish Coast Elementary classroom. Above Middle: Student from Blue Heron Middle School planting on a Real Learning Real Work field trip. Above Right: Peter Bahls with the Northwest Watershed Institute (NWI) showing Stream Stewards participants a map of the Tarboo Watershed. Photos courtesy of NOSC Staff.

Come join the North Olympic Salmon Coalition for the 89^th Annual Rhody Festival Parade on Saturday, May 18th in Port Townsend. Help us decorate and walk alongside Fin the Giant Wild Salmon as we migrate our way through the streets of Port Townsend, spreading salmon cheer! If you aren’t in the mood to decorate or walk in the parade, we also need help sourcing Rhody flowers for decorating Fin. If you want to help with this fun event in any way, please reach out to outreach@nosc.org! 

Volunteers and staff decorating Fin the Giant Wild Salmon for Rhody Festival 2023. Photo courtesy of NOSC staff.

Join us on June 2^nd for the Salmon Coalition’s 2^nd Annual Community Tour: Restoring the Snow and Salmon Creek Watershed: 30 Years of Salmon Recovery

Flowing from the foothills of the Olympic Mountains to the salty waters of Discovery Bay, the Snow and Salmon Creek Watershed is home to coho, and federally-listed Puget Sound Steelhead and Hood Canal Summer Chum. The story of its restoration spans many decades of collaboration between many Salmon Coalition partners, including but not limited to, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jefferson Land Trust, Jefferson County Conservation District, local landowners, and community members. Join us for an afternoon of exploring this watershed-wide effort in restoration.

The event will begin at the Haybarn at Finnriver Farm & Cidery and will conclude with a tour at the recently completed restoration project at the Jefferson Land Trust's Snow Creek Uncas Preserve. This community event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below to reserve a spot.

Finnriver Haybarn

124 Center Road, Chimacum

Snow Creek Uncas Preserve (Map will be provided at the event)

W Uncas Road, Port Townsend

Our elementary education program, Salmon in the Schools, is wrapping up as seven elementary schools across the North Olympic Peninsula, have released their coho salmon fry. Classrooms in Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Sequim, Chimacum, and Clallam Bay have been raising their salmon in the classrooms since January. Throughout the program over 400 students have measured water quality, observed salmon development, studied the salmon life cycle, adaptations, habitat, and the role of salmon in our cultures. Finally after months of effort, students got to release their salmon in local waterways on an activity-packed field trip! Elementary students got to participate in macroinvertebrate studies, salmon life cycle games, art, and habitat tours during their salmon release day celebration. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who helped assist NOSC staff during these field trips!

This program is funded through the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Jefferson Community Foundation, and the generous donations of our community!

Left: Students from Franklin Elementary taking a look at benthic macroinvertebrates collected from the Dungeness River. Middle: Students from Hamilton Elementary say goodbye to their salmon fry before releasing them into the water. Right: Students from Salish Coast Elementary take a closer look at Caddisfly larva collected from Chimacum Creek. Photos courtesy of NOSC staff.

Congratulations to the Stream Stewards class of 2024! We really enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you and co-hosting the program with Bob Simmons and the WSU team.

This was the first year that the Salmon Coalition assisted Washington State University’s Jefferson County extension with hosting the Stream Stewards program. Through this 5-week course, participants learned about the connections between our lands and waters. Through classroom sessions, field trips, and hands-on activities, this training connected participants with experts and opportunities to get involved in local efforts.

This year, the program took us to Snow Creek’s newest habitat restoration project, to the forested ridge of Chimacum, to the restored floodplain of the Dungeness River, to Port Townsend, where we learned about stormwater and water quality, and culminated with a watershed tour of Tarboo Creek.

Thank you to Jefferson County Conservation District, 10,000 Years Institute, Jefferson Land Trust, Clallam County, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, City of Port Townsend, and Northwest Watershed Institute for participating in this year’s program. We are so grateful to have the staff of these organizations available and willing to share their expansive knowledge of natural resources in our region.

We look forward to hosting the program next year! Be on the lookout for a class registration announcement and syllabus next winter!

Thank you, Bob! We’d also like to provide a massive thank you to Bob Simmons, as he prepares to retire from WSU this spring, for his many years of championing this program in our region. Countless Stream Stewards graduates have gone on to provide valued support to the various organizations that have been a part of this program. You have truly left a legacy of Stewards that are well educated on the conservation of our natural resources!

Top Right: Peter Bahls with the Northwest Watershed Institute (NWI) showing participants a map of the Tarboo Watershed. Middle Left: Participates attending a field trip. Above: Group photo of Stream Steward participants at Dabob Bay. Photos courtesy of NOSC staff.