Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Mission

Engaging our community in restoring salmon and keeping our watersheds healthy for future generations.

Our Urgent Ask

The Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group is asking you to GiveBIG for an URGENT and IMMEDIATE need to continue our Salmon in the Schools education program.  

On Monday April 28th, we were notified that all AmeriCorps funds from the federal level were cut.  AmeriCorps members are essential for delivering our Salmon in the Schools program, vegetation monitoring program, spawner survey program, and so much more.  Without the AmeriCorps program we are in urgent need to raise funds to continue to deliver Salmon in the Schools immediately.  We cannot continue Salmon in the Schools if we do not have people to run the program. Salmon in the Schools is one of many programs offered by Skagit Fisheries that cannot exist without hardworking individuals to coordinate it.

The AmeriCorps cuts could not have come at a worse time.  Funds for Salmon in the Schools have already decreased due to many state grant funds being drastically reduced for outdoor education programs for the coming school year.  Over 700 students at 15 schools currently get to participate in this valuable program each year in Skagit County.  We desperately want to continue to excite kids about salmon and stewardship through Salmon in the Schools--And with your help we can. 

The loss of the AmeriCorps program has left our AmeriCorps members without jobs and benefits these positions offer, including educational scholarships and food benefits like SNAP.  We are hopeful by raising funds, we can continue to offer our hard working young people employment and continue to deliver Salmon in the Schools and other volunteer programs you love.

Please consider donating to our GiveBIG campaign and ensure Salmon in the Schools and other valuable volunteer programs continue under the leadership of enthusiastic young people building their futures for careers in conservation. With your help, 700 more students around Skagit County will get the opportunity to learn about salmon, raise them at their school, and the awesome hands on experience to release their young salmon into a local stream.  

If your business is looking for sponsorship opportunities, your business can be featured on a fish tank at a local school participating in Salmon in the Schools.  Please click here for more information. 

You can read more about AmeriCorps programs being defunded here.

Organization Description:

For over 30 years, Skagit Fisheries has worked with our community to bring back the plentiful salmon runs of years past.

Why is it crucial to restore habitat for the Skagit River? The Skagit River is the only Washington River that is home to all 5 species of Pacific salmon, and it also supports the largest runs of endangered Chinook salmon, the main source of food for the Pacific Northwest's iconic Southern Resident Killer Whales. Ensuring healthy habitat for salmon also means clean water for families, more habitat for birds and wildlife we love, and more beautiful places for our community to recreate. Your investment in volunteer habitat programs helps keep the Skagit Valley healthy for our entire community.

Over the last 35 years, support from donors has helped:

• Engage over 21,000 children in hands-on environmental science education programs learning about salmon and the importance of watershed environments
• Complete over 21 miles of instream habitat restoration projects
• Open over 100 miles of habitat for salmon and steelhead by removing 75 culvert crossings that blocked fish migration
• Plant over 494,000 native plants along more than 61 miles of streams and shorelines, improving water quality, providing shade, and a place for young salmon to hide from predators
• Build over 57,000 feet of livestock fencing to improve water quality and reduce bank erosion
• Reach and involve over 130,000 volunteers and community members, who contributed over 180,000 volunteer hours to improving the Skagit watershed

Now is the time to show your support and continue to invest in future habitat restoration and education programs. Your support helps deliver education programs to schools, develop new restoration projects, engage more community members, and shows you care for our watersheds, our salmon, and our community.

As we celebrate over 30 years of success, we invite you to reinvest in these community based efforts and consider a GiveBIG donation to help keep the Skagit Valley healthy for salmon and beautiful place for all of us.