In an effort to maximize efficiencies through 2013, FCRW is focusing our efforts on our three core programs; Volunteer Restoration Habitat Restoration (VHR), Cedar River Salmon Journey (CRSJ), and Stewardship In Action (SIA). Why are these programs important? The recent statement below by Bill Ruckleshaus and Martha Kongsgaard from the Puget Sound Partnership sums it up best:

"From the metropolitan hubs of Seattle and Tacoma to the pristine wilderness of the Alpine Lakes, Puget Sound defines our region both economically and geographically. It is America's second-largest estuary, an economic super-engine and an environmental treasure that encompasses more than 12,000 square miles. Legendary runs of salmon and steelhead, iconic orcas and a number of native shellfish depend on it. Businesses thrive from it. Menus are inspired by it. And we all love to play in it. A healthy Puget Sound is vital to our way of life."       

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Sockeye in Cavanaugh Pond

I am walking with Cathy Maunu, another long-time volunteer with the Cedar River Salmon Journey (CRSJ). We are taking some time away from our day jobs and our CRSJ duty to spend some 'slow time' at the river.   We stop at the edge of the woods before we walk out onto the gravel bar to watch what seems to be an immature bald eagle fly over the river to land in a tree on the opposite shore. Like the gulls which are everywhere, one or two to every salmon carcass, the huge bird is here to feed on the pale, spawned-out fish that have been washed to the river's edge or been snared by snags and rocks sticking up out of the shallow moving water.

In this reach there are live salmon spawning, too - maybe a dozen and a half, close to the shore and easily visible. We walk down to the water and peer in like children hunting for treasure - which I suppose we are. I can lose hours here, entranced by the moving water and the flashes of crimson and orange - 'riverine hypnosis,' the writer Jim Harrison calls it. Caveman TV.