Dear John,
This is a big moment for wild salmon and steelhead and the rivers they call home. And thanks to your year-end generosity, you’ve positioned us perfectly to take advantage of it.
Right now, wild salmon, steelhead, and trout runs are being squeezed across their range by development and climate impacts. But we’re also on the cusp of winning some of the most significant conservation breakthroughs in Wild Salmon Center’s history.
After more than a decade campaigning alongside our local partners, we’re now just a step away from securing federal Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay, Alaska—protections that should finally stop Pebble Mine.
In Oregon, following two decades of work to reform forest practices—including years of intense negotiations with the timber industry—we’re now in the process of implementing new forestry rules that protect clean cold water for salmon across 10 million acres of private forestland.
And after years of targeted, science-based planning with our community partners on the Oregon and Washington Coasts, we've recently learned that federal agencies plan to invest historic levels of funding into key coastal restoration projects in the coming year.
2023 will be a watershed moment in our long history of protecting and restoring salmon strongholds, as the seeds of our hard work finally come to fruition after years—even decades—of patient cultivation. We wouldn’t have reached this moment without your steadfast support over time. Now, together, we’re on the brink of realizing great achievements.
Thank you.
This year, we’ll be breaking ground on dozens of restoration projects on critical cold water tributaries, as talented new staff members gear up on the Oregon and Washington Coasts.
We’ll be defending any Pebble Mine decision from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against future challenges, while pivoting our Alaska team to an important new campaign to defend the West Susitna River.
We’ll work hard to make sure habitat conservation plans on private and state forests are wisely implemented and monitored according to the best available science.
And we’ll be excited to share with you news of other growing WSC initiatives, starting with our work to protect wild fish diversity across the range of salmon and steelhead.
These new initiatives include a range-wide Chinook salmon assessment and a software-aided wild fish monitoring project, along with steelhead management reforms on the Olympic Peninsula and our International Taimen Initiative. Across the North Pacific, WSC is leading the way to understanding, defending, and restoring wild salmon diversity.
You’ll be hearing much more about this work in the coming months.
For now, thank you for being with us, in big moments and small.
From all of us at WSC,
