- VIA FLICKR
- Salmon is good
After banning cocks from Seattle, City Council President Richard Conlin has moved on to salmon. In a good way, that is.
When Conlin heard that budget cuts had forced the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to cut the Salmon in Schools program (this has nothing to do with improving school lunches, mind you, and instead teaches kids responsibility toward the environment), he tapped Seattle Public Utilities to find a way to support the program.
SPU has agreed to contribute $10,000 through the Restore Our Waters program annually, and salmon eggs have already been delivered to about 50 schools across the city so that students can watch them hatch, grow, and get released in local streams. Meanwhile, WDFW is trying to get funding from private (perhaps Tom Douglas could have another salmon bake?) or non-profit donors to continue the program if the cuts become permanent. SPU will take on the cost of maintaining the tanks used in Seattle schools and collaborate with watershed groups, school district staff, and teachers to keep the educational component of the program alive.
Every year, 40,000 students from approximately 495 schools in Washington signed up for the Salmon in Schools program.
“Environmental stewardship starts young,” Conlin said in a statement today. “Kids learn best by seeing and interacting with nature and wildlife. I hope that other municipalities and organizations around the state will do the same.” With the state budget crisis only getting worse, it’s a matter of time before more programs like this start being cut. Kudos to Conlin for making sure our kids still have their salmon.
However, should the $10,000 not be enough, each family in Seattle will be responsible for Salmon Project cost overruns up to $57,000 per household.
Conlin, who makes up laws as he goes along, said that the community college class he taught, Government and Stuff 101, gives him the fine expertise to decide these things…
I remember the Salmon in Schools program, that was a lot of fun! Great way to introduce/reinforce the idea of environmental stewardship to kids. Glad they’re finding a way to keep it going.
Lol. @1 ftw.
That said, Salmon in Schools is a really cool program and it should be funded.
I recommend we cancel the Deeply Bribed Tunnel and use the cost savings from that to fund this.
@1
Your an idiot.
These are important school programs. While they might not immediately improve the environment, they will teach these young adults that the environment needs respect. I still recycle and reduce my waste religiously because of my fifth grade teacher.
@4- They learn how salmon develop from eggs to fingerlings and how destroying ecosystems means less salmon for us to eat.
The salmon my daughter’s class is in charge of just started hatching yesterday.
@5- You got trolled.
There are few programs that teach a clear and simple lesson that is obvious to anybody.
OMG. The Supreme Loser of the Playground wrote something funny. I missed the weather forecast that predicted Hell to freeze over today!
I remember doing that program at Sacajawea in North Seattle. I didn’t think I thought much of it at the time, but I’m glad now that we had the opportunity. On a side note It was also my first glimpse of mortality, as I saw diseased, rotting salmon milling around the hatchery pond in their end stages… But I think its important for kids to learn about the salmon lifecycle, and how we f*cked it up.
I remember doing this program! And then going to a hatchery to see how we acquired the fertilized eggs….watching a man in hip waders slice open the belly of a fish and have fish-sperm spill out all over the place…..that’ll be in the brain-image bank for ever.
I remember the Salmons in Schools program back in Yakima and the experience has stuck with me since then. I remember releasing my little salmon into the Columbia, giving it a little nudge when it got stuck behind a twig in the river. It was an amazing experience and I hope all kids are able to have it.
Where’s my checkbook?