Outreach & EducationIntervale Volume 4 Issue 1
The Wild Salmon Resource Center
The Wild Salmon Resource Center (WSRC) is the home of the Downeast Salmon Federation located on the banks of the Pleasant River in downtown Columbia Falls.
The WSRC is located in a former hydro-electric generating station whose dam was a major obstacle to salmon and other anadromous fish. The DSF played a major role in the decommissioning of the facility and breaching of the dam. On the foundation of the old hydro-electric facility the DSF and community volunteers built the WSRC.
The Wild Salmon Resource Center's Atlantic Salmon Education Program
Since its inception in 1982, the DSF has been involved in education and outreach activities. DSF volunteers taught fly-tying and casting in local schools, set up informational booths at public events, and created floats for local parades. With the building of the Wild Salmon Resource Center and Pleasant River Fish Hatchery the educational activities of the DSF greatly expanded. The Center provides a space where students from around Washington County come to learn about Atlantic salmon. The Hatchery, while providing a place to raise wild salmon fry to stock into the river for restoration and enhancement, also provides an excellent opportunity for students to learn about and see salmon first hand. Our facilities make it possible to watch videos about salmon, look at young salmon through a microscope, or see the difference between salmon and trout.
2009 Outreach Program Highlights
So far this year, the DSF outreach and education program has engaged hundreds of students and faculty at primary and secondary schools throughout Washington County
Photos of DSF Education
Photos of our educational activities in Washington County illustrate our lively commitment to educating the public about wild Atlantic salmon, their habitat, and the possibilities for individuals to act to protect and preserve them.
Real time water quality data on the web
In the continuing effort to conserve and restore wild Atlantic salmon populations in the Downeast Rivers, low pH and its associated water chemistry has come to the forefront as a possible factor in the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.
What water quality parameters do we measure and what do they mean?
What kinds of data does Downeast Salmon Federation measure? What do the terms mean? We try to anticipate your questions by describing each kind of information we obtain from our "data sonde" or measuring device. See our Water Quality on the Web
