Pressroom
Tom Brokaw addresses WSC's Spring Dinner and the fate of wild salmon
Portland, OR (May 4, 2010) -- The Wild Salmon Center welcomed Tom Brokaw to its first annual Spring Dinner to celebrate progress and accomplishments in wild salmon conservation across the Pacific Rim. Over 300 guests filled the Portland Art Museum to join Mr. Brokaw, Wild Salmon Center staff and Board, and WSC partners to learn about the current challenges and opportunities to conserve wild salmon populations. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Attorney General John Kroger, and former Governor and WSC Board Member John Kitzhaber were all in attendance.
WSC Spring Dinner 2010 Host Committee
Rocky & Julie Dixon
Jay Fewel
Nancy Frisch
Stone Gossard
Rance & Allison Gregory
David & Heather Howitt
Bitsy Kelley
John Kitzhaber, M.D.
Rick & Susan Koe
Tom Larimer
Bill Lazar
Tucker Malarkey
Nels & Tory Paine
James & Jane Ratzlaff
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An avid fly fisherman and conservationist, Mr. Brokaw said,
"It is the obligation of all of us to ensure the most magnificent species of the Northwest has a friend. The salmon are depending on all of us."
Mr. Brokaw spoke to his own experiences on his Montana farm and the continuing threats that wild salmon and other species face in the age of population growth and development. In his closing remarks Mr. Brokaw noted, "I would hate to be part of a generation that 100 years from now historians would look back and say -- they lost the salmon. What a commentary that would be on all of us."
Guido Rahr, President of the Wild Salmon Center, presented the organization's strategies to protect the healthiest remaining salmon ecosystems in North America and the Western Pacific, including efforts in the Russian Far East and Japan.
"Pacific salmon are at a crossroads," Guido said. "One piece of the strategy we have to get right is targeting and protecting wild salmon strongholds--the last best places where you have relatively intact habitat and healthy runs. No matter what else we do, if we get this piece wrong, we won't have any second chances."
