The salmon scholars fund
Each fall, salmon fight their way home to the waters where they began. So do our students — returning to these same streams to learn, reflect, and grow into the next generation of stewards. The Salmon Scholars Fund ensures this return continues, year after year.
about the fund
Returning to these same streams to learn and reflect, students grow into the next generation of stewards when they participate in the Lane County Salmon Watch Program. The Salmon Scholars Fund ensures this program continues, and the students return, year after year. Please join the Return Circle by making a monthly or annual contribution to the Salmon Scholars Fund.
When you join the Return Circle as a donor, you become a part of our story by providing the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council with the strength and stability we need to keep supporting the Lane County Salmon Watch Program in the Upper Willamette region.
Making a regular, scheduled gift will maximize your impact by reducing administrative costs and helping us implement your gift to this program in the most strategic way. It is a smart and sustaining way to give, and a meaningful way to support the next generation of stewards.
Program Support
Salmon Watch is a unique field trip experience that takes place during the spring and fall migration of Chinook salmon. Students learn about the pillars of watershed health through macroinvertebrate identification, water quality testing, nature walks through riparian forests, and observing spawning salmon as they learn about the critical role this species plays culturally and environmentally. Stations are led by a dedicated group of volunteers from the community, local organizations, and agency partners.
Through hands-on stream-side participation, the Lane County Salmon Watch program instills deeper understanding of each person’s relationship to their local watershed, reconnecting communities to the natural world.
Lane County Salmon Watch is coordinated and supported through the MFWWC’s Regional Education Program which provides environmental learning opportunities to students throughout the Upper Willamette Basin.
Learn more about Lane County Salmon Watch.
Student Stories
“Thank you for teaching me there is nature in water”
“The amount of fish in this little stream is amazing!”
“Thank you for sharing your knowledge and teaching me about all the different kinds of plants. I liked identifying trees”
“Thank you for teaching me that water is life!”
The Salmon Scholars Fund logo was created and designed by Lizzy Schendel, a junior at Sheldon High School.