Grants totaling $792,304 to advance 65 local salmon restoration projects

Jan. 18, 2024

PSF funds 65 local projects, leveraging $3.7 million in total value for salmon

In the fall of 2023, the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) granted $792,304 to 65 community-led salmon restoration, education, and stewardship projects in British Columbia. These initiatives are projected to generate a collective value of $3.7 million for salmon conservation.

Launched by PSF in 1989, the Community Salmon Program empowers volunteers, local streamkeepers, Indigenous communities, and schools to take proactive measures to recover Pacific salmon and their habitats.

In the 34 years since its inception, PSF’s Community Salmon Program has distributed $27.4 million in grants to more than 3,200 projects across B.C. and the Yukon and engaged tens of thousands of volunteers. Successful projects include salmon habitat restoration, watersheds monitoring and research, emergency flood initiatives, and educational programming such as Salmonids in the Classroom.

“The needs of salmon populations across B.C. have changed since the Pacific Salmon Foundation launched the Community Salmon Program more than three decades ago. We’ve expanded our grant program to meet the growing demand for funding from local stewards and the evolving challenges salmon face – such as climate change and habitat loss,” says Michael Meneer, CEO and president, Pacific Salmon Foundation.

“The Community Salmon Program supports projects stewarding Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, training and educating students to protect salmon habitat, and empowering community members to take care of their local salmon ecosystems. These vital grants to communities all across British Columbia and the Yukon would not be possible without our supporters. I encourage you to consider donating to the Community Salmon Program to ensure this program continues to empower local communities.”

To support the Community Salmon Program, you can donate online today.

The Salmon Conservation Stamp, a decal that anglers purchase with their saltwater fishing licence, is the primary funding source for the program. Through a landmark agreement in 1989, PSF manages the full proceeds of the stamp on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to advance community-led salmon restoration.

The Community Salmon Program is currently accepting applications for the spring 2024 cycle until Feb. 15, 2024. Apply here.

Read below to learn how recent Community Salmon Program recipients are making a positive difference for salmon.

 

Training a new generation of streamkeepers in the Alouette Watershed

In 1928, the completion of the Alouette Dam in Maple Ridge effectively blocked salmon access to what is now known as the Alouette Reservoir, causing dramatic declines in abundance for local salmon populations. Nearly a century later, the Alouette River Management Society (ARMS) is restoring local salmon habitats.

Their “Community Connections” project is a three-part initiative aiming to engage community members with local watersheds through 2024 and raise awareness for resident salmon populations. It involves hosting monthly, hands-on restoration activities for local volunteers, providing streamkeeper training, and restoring 600 square metres of salmon habitat in the lower reaches of the South Alouette River.

Volunteers will remove sediment and invasive species and plant up to 250 native trees and shrubs to improve the salmon habitat.

“Stewardship activities like these are critical in continuing to develop environmental stewards in our region, playing an important role in building a community that strives to restore these vital spaces,” says Marissa Waddell, Watershed Projects Manager at ARMS.

 

Mamalilikulla First Nation restores salmon streams in Gwaxdlala and Nalaxdlala watersheds

The Mamalilikulla First Nation will lead salmon stream restoration efforts in its Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA), declared by the Nation in 2021. The IPCA is roughly the size of Vancouver and includes both land and marine components around Gwaxdlala (Lull Bay) and Nalaxdlala (Hoeya Sound), just northeast of Port McNeill on Vancouver Island.

The area has historically supported abundant salmon populations, as evidenced by ancient Indigenous villages and fish traps. However, a combination of timber harvesting and landslide events has led to increased sedimentation in the Lull, Hoeya, and Hoeya East creeks, degrading salmon habitat.

The Mamalilikulla will assess and lead the implementation of various restoration activities throughout 2024 with the support of partners and Guardians. Proposed restoration activities include stabilizing paths of recent landslides by planting riparian vegetation, removing large debris to allow fish passage, and improving gravel bed conditions for salmon spawning.

This effort to restore salmon streams is part of the Mamalilikulla’s commitment to leading conservation efforts in Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala under new collaborative governance agreements and management plans with Crown governments. In an area of great cultural significance to the Mamalilikulla, the Nation is taking steps to maintain, restore, and protect unique habitat and species like salmon.

“This project will significantly advance our Nation’s stated objective of restoring salmon in the IPCA to levels of abundance that will restore the health of our Grizzly bears and other dependent species in the ecosystem, in accordance with our ancient laws,” says Mamalilikulla Chief Councillor Winidi (John Powell).

 

Riparian habitats rescue at Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary

Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island, engages more than 400 community members across 10-plus riparian stewardship efforts on an annual basis. This supports their work towards restoring the streams and lake to improve habitats for coho and chum salmon.

The nature sanctuary acts as an immersive outdoor classroom, allowing youth from ages three and up to develop long-term connections with nature through hands-on learning. For example, their Adopt A Patch program gives learners on-the-ground ecological restoration experience identifying and cultivating native plants, as well as managing less desirable species in Garry Oak meadow habitats.

With Community Salmon Program funding, the sanctuary’s team aims to expand its community offerings.

“This project will allow us to have more participants engaged with our water quality monitoring work aligned with provincial standards,” says Cara Gibson, Executive Director at the Nature Sanctuary.

“Also, new this year, we will be teaching participants how to do aquatic plant surveys and building vegetated floating islands to trial low-tech ways to uptake excess nutrients.”

 

The Community Salmon Program also benefits from corporations with sustainability goals. The Alastair and Diana Gillespie Foundation, BC Hydro, Encorp, Methanex, Mosaic Forest Management, Neptune Terminals, Paper Excellence, Pembina, Seaspan, Secure Energy, Sutherland Foundation Inc., The Wolrige Foundation, and Trans Mountain support the program. Interested businesses can contact salmon@psf.ca. 

 

MEDIA INQUIRIES: Please contact Braela Kwan, Communications Specialist, Pacific Salmon Foundation, bkwan@psf.ca, (604) 664-7664 ext. 1025

 

A full list of recipients for the fall 2023 Community Salmon Program cohort includes:

Applicant	Project Title	CSP Grant $	Project Value $
A Rocha Canada	Microscope Camera	2,500	24,000
Aberdeen Elementary	Stream of Dreams at Aberdeen Elementary	6,730	21,301
Adams River Salmon Society	Education and Outreach Program	2,500	10,000
Alex Aitken Elementary	Stream of Dreams at Alex Aitken Elementary	3,080	7,985
Alouette River Management Society	Alouette Watershed Community Connections	10,000	40,750
Annunciation School	Stream of Dreams at Annunciation School	4,148	10,129
British Columbia Conservation Foundation	Little Qualicum River Estuary Interpretative Signage	4,800	10,800
Centre Mountain Lellum	Salmonids in the Classroom	2,200	4,800
Cheakamus Foundation for Environmental Learning	Teaching Hatchery Pump Shed	2,500	5,500
Comox Valley Project Watershed	Mallard Creek Off-Channel Habitat Restoration	7,545	22,506
Council of Yukon First Nations	Increasing Yukon First Nation Salmon Stewardship Capacity	11,219	33,783
Cowichan Lake Salmonid Enhancement Society	Riparian Restoration Planting	2,417	4,937
Cowichan Watershed Society	Water Quality Sampling	2,500	50,540
Crescent Park Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,550
École des Cascades	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,550
École Lord Tennyson Elementary School	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,700
Fanny Bay Salmonid Enhancement Society	Community Stream Habitat Mapping	16,708	55,053
Freshwater Fisheries Society of British Columbia	British Columbia’s Family Fishing Weekend	10,000	141,210
Friends of French Creek Conservation Society	French Creek Community Park Riparian Habitat Conservation	25,798	64,521
Gitga’at First Nation	Gitga’at Hatchery Upgrades	63,200	501,520
Goldstream Volunteer Salmonid Enhancement Association	Salmonids in the Classroom	5,500	11,400
Guardians of Our Salish Estuaries Society	Eco-Cultural Restoration of Salish Sea Estuaries	24,500	258,700
Holly Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	233	3,200
Holy Cross Elementary School	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,600
Homalco First Nations	Hatchery Backup Generator	25,000	53,305
Homalco-Taggares Hatchery	Hatchery Supplies	2,500	7,416
Hyde Creek Watershed Society	Educational Salmon Booklets	2,500	8,670
King Traditional Elementary School	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,550
Lansdowne South Middle School	Salmonids in the Classroom	2,500	5,050
Latimer Road Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	4,150
Loon Foundation	Stewardship of Pacific Salmon and their Habitat on the Sunshine Coast	7,850	89,250
Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance	Upper Pitt River Restoration	99,389	222,889
Mamalilikulla First Nation	Gwaxdlala/Nalaxdlala Indigenous Protected And Conserved Area Salmon Stream Restoration	75,000	150,000
McMillan Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,850
Meadow & Marsh Home Learners Nature Club	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,550
Millard Piercy Watershed Stewards	Piercy Tributary 1 South Bank Restoration Project	57,420	132,630
Nanaimo & Area Land Trust	Stark Creek Riparian Restoration	1,118	3,278
Nootka Sound Watershed Society	Spawning Gravel Augmentation	30,000	590,102
North Shore Streamkeepers	North Shore Alliance Rain Garden	4,000	23,020
Ocean Cliff Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	2,000
Ocean Cliff Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	4,850
Okanagan Nation Alliance	Fish in Schools	2,500	8,400
Our Lady of Fatima	Salmonids in the Classroom	1,650	3,870
Peninsula Streams Society	Reay Creek Habitat Assessment and Rehabilitation	8,000	26,000
Port Coquitlam & District Hunting & Fishing Club	Grist Goesen Memorial Hatchery Rearing Tub Replacement	25,798	51,596
Quw’utsun Smuneem Elementary	Stream of Dreams at Quw’utsun Smuneem Elementary	1,614	4,714
Raincoast Conservation Foundation	Salish Sea Emerging Stewards	2,500	17,300
Redd Fish Restoration Society	Barkley-Clayoquot Region Nearshore Marine Monitoring	39,580	95,080
Redd Fish Restoration Society	Hiłsyaqƛis (Tranquil) Floodplain Restoration	88,000	483,539
S.A.Y.  Lands	Chilliwack Creek Riparian Planting	2,500	12,220
Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club	Deck Replacement	1,200	4,000
Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club	Replace Well Equipment & Flow Test Little Campbell Hatchery	9,107	106,607
Shaughnessy Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	469	2,369
Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society	Somenos Creek Migratory Passage Restoration	17,390	37,000
Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society	Stream Assessment and Monitoring Equipment	2,500	5,500
Squamish Streamkeepers	Restoration Project Identification	1,000	4,235
Stanley Park Ecology Society	The Return of the Salmonids	21,345	117,212
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary	Riparian Rescue For Youth	2,500	7,580
Sxoxomic Community school	Stream of Dreams	2,026	4,826
Templeton Secondary School	Salmonids in the Classroom	450	910
Vancouver Christian School	Salmonids in the Classroom	500	1,800
Wishart Elementary	Salmonids in the Classroom	2,110	9,010
Yorkson Watershed Enhancement Society	Watershed Restoration	2,500	6,000