Spot the spawners this fall in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed. Fall is the right time of the year to view mature sockeye, chinook and coho salmon as they return to spawn in King County’s beautiful streams and rivers.

Area viewing locations include:

• Bear Creek north of Redmond, with help from Water Tenders volunteers on Sept. 27 from 1-4 p.m., Oct. 2 from 3–6 p.m. and Oct. 4 from 1–4 p.m. For more information, call Dick Schaetzel at 425-788-5083, dickandmary1@yahoo.com, or www.watertenders.org and click on “salmon viewing locations.”

• Bear Creek, from late September to mid-November, visit the Redmond Organization of Shared Environments, a 3/8-mile-long trail created and maintained by local students. Located behind Redmond’s Classic Nursery, the trail is self-guided– or call to schedule group tours (suggested donation of $1 per person for tours). For more information, call 425-882-1846 or lyhussey@comcast.net. Visit 12526 Avondale Rd NE in Redmond during business hours every day of the week.

• Sammamish River, on Sept. 20 and Oct. 4, from 9 -11 a.m. (and one other date TBA), with salmon-spotting stations along the Sammamish River Trail south of the 85th Street Bridge, sponsored by the City of Redmond. Interpretive naturalists from Nature Vision will lend you a pair of polarized glasses to help you spot adult coho, sockeye and chinook salmon migrating and tell you how to help these amazing animals flourish. For more information, contact Peter Holte at 425-556-2822, or pholte@redmond.gov.

• Little Bear Creek, at Rotary Park in Woodinville, Oct. 11, 18 and 25, from 10 a.m. – noon. Volunteers will be on site to help identify fish and answer questions. The park is at 19518 136th Ave. NE. For more information, call 425-489-2754 x2221, or debrac@ci.woodinville.wa.us.

• Kelsey Creek, during October, at the Mercer Slough fish ladder, south of Southeast Eighth Street in Bellevue. Call 425-452-5200 for updates before you go. From I-405, go west on Southeast Eighth and left on 118th Avenue Southeast. Park in lots just before and after the site, and follow the signs to the creek and interpretive signage.

• Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, Sept. 27, Oct. 12 and Oct. 18, from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Guides at the hatchery bridge will lead tours and answer questions. Watch salmon spawning from the bridge or through viewing windows. For more information, call 425-392-8025, or visit www.issaquahfish.org. The hatchery is at 125 W Sunset Way in Issaquah.

A guide is available from King County with more info regarding best places to watch salmon, and offers simple tips on how you can help protect water quality, improve salmon runs and restore salmon habitat. Visit www.dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/fall4salmon/ for more information.

Watershed Plans: Key Part of Puget Sound Salmon Recovery

In 2005, local partners reached a major milestone when they completed watershed-based habitat recovery plans for the major watersheds in King County.

These watershed plans make up a key part of the draft Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan (external link).

Key questions about funding and coordination of habitat efforts with other recovery efforts -- those addressing hatchery and harvest reforms -- are being answered at the Puget Sound level (external link).

In January 2007, the federal government approved the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan as the plan for recovering Chinook salmon.  People across Puget Sound are now working to carry out its recommendations.  Implementing the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan also is an essential part of overall efforts to save Puget Sound.

This program is sponsored by the WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council as part of its effort to recover salmon in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed.