Educational Opportunities...
The Information & Education (I&E) Office coordinates a popular Salmon-in-the-Classroom activity in area schools. Students rear salmon obtained from a hatchery in tanks, giving them the ability to observe and learn about the salmon as they grow. Several area schools have recently "adopted" streams in local communities. This provides further opportunities to explore water quality, habitat, and overall watershed health. Salmon and stream units combine as students actually release their salmon into local streams. Many cooperators work together to make such activities possible.

This past year three schools in the Klickitat Basin were fortunate enough to have fish tanks and chillers provided to them for continual use by the Yakama Nation Fisheries Program. In addition to in-class presentation by our office, a fisheries biologist from the Yakama Nation made class visits to explain their program and explain more about the cultural significance of salmon to native people.

Other educational opportunities that are provided by the I&E Office include classroom visits to better understand internal and external anatomy through fish dissection or Gyotaku (the Japanese art of fish printing), or learning how hatcheries play an important role in species conservation. An array of educational material known as "fin bins" are available for loan to educators, as are a variety of videos, curricua and resource books.