Through a Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) grant, YKFP staff partnered with USFWS and Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group (MCFEG) to engage area school students in the historic removal of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River.

The goals were to provide a science-based, locally relevant, experiential education program focused on the removal of Condit Dam, and to engage students and community members in their local watershed.

Activities included in-class presentations on the past, present and future of the Condit Dam and the White Salmon River by the project's watershed educators, and tours of the dam facilities and environs both before and after decommissioning. Some classes extended their study by sampling water quality in the river before and after dam removal, and presenting their findings to peers.

The project also included community outreach such as a booth at community events, a river-themed kids' parade, a student-made giant salmon named Ella, outreach to local landowners on protecting the river's resources, and a fund- and awareness-raising art show for salmon habitat at the White Salmon Valley Library's gallery. A White Salmon River Homecoming Celebration in fall 2012, co-hosted by YN, MCFEG, Friends of the White Salmon River and WetPlanet Whitewater included a free traditional salmon bake for the community, informational booths, and speeches by tribal and local river advocates.

Yakama Nation Fisheries joins up with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, Klickitat County Solid Waste Dept., Underwood and Klickitat Conservation Districts, Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute and other partners to hold the annual Water Jam festival, a two-day fun and educational culminating event for area 4th and 5th graders participating in the "Salmon in the Classroom" program. Our third annual event was a hit with students and teachers alike in 2010.

Next year's event is tentatively scheduled for May 20 & 21, 2010 at the Underwood Community Center in Underwood, WA. This year's event turned out to be a good and lively time, too! Activities range from salmon lifecycle mini-golf to wildlife tracking, building an eagle, recycling footprint, Native American storytelling, water quality testing and aquatic bug i.d., water cycle games, to simulating salmon habitat restoration. Kids receive their own Water Jam t-shirts (made from recycled pop bottles) and are treated to a lunchtime concert by Recycle Man & his band, the Dumpster Divers.

The past three years' events were a resounding success for all involved, and we are looking forward to it again!

YKFP staff is collaborating with the USFWS on a Schoolyard Habitat program at Whitson Elementary School in White Salmon, WA to encourage kids to interact with their surroundings and learn about the interconnectedness of the natural world, watersheds and the importance of species richness.
This involves creating habitat for wildlife by building bat houses, constructing and planting garden beds, providing bird feeders, and planting a variety of local, native plants (in landscape plantings and an ethnobotany garden of culturally important plants) that won't require chemicals or irrigation once established (good for fish, farms & people!) while providing ecosystem benefits for all. Future plans include rehabilitating a pine and oak natural area and trail adjacent to the schoolyard, and recreating a wildflower and bunchgrass meadow on the school grounds to attract native pollinators, birds and other wildlife, and to serve as a living outdoor classroom.

Staff from the USFWS and YKFP along with volunteer students, moms and master gardeners pitched in in early November, 2009 to plant the first phase of the Native Pollinator Garden at Whitson Elementary.