Washington State Conservation Commission

Imagine a board game in which your playing piece is a Yakima River salmon, and the goal of the game is to find a tributary that offers a suitable place for spawning and a good place for juvenile fish to thrive. Here are some of the game cards you are likely to draw:
“Access blocked by culvert barrier, lose 1 turn."
“Water temperature too warm, go back 20 spaces.”
“No place for juvenile fish to hide and rest, lose 2 turns.”
“Mistakenly swim up irrigation diversion channel, game over.”

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Dozens of school buses pulled into Horn Rapids Campground in Benton County on May 6 and unloaded excited students who have been raising salmon in their classrooms over the past year. They had come to release their finger-size fish into a tributary of the Yakima River and to celebrate the day by visiting learning stations throughout the park provided by a host of community partners. 

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Washington’s farmers have come a long way since the days of horse-drawn plows. In the past, the goal of new technology was to make farming more efficient, but today, new technologies also seek to lessen environmental impacts. This seed drill allows farmers to sow and fertilize with minimum disturbance to the soil. The result? A huge savings in top soil no longer lost to wind and water erosion.

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