Local conservationists and anglers will gather for a fundraising dinner and auction on Feb. 4 to support Pacific salmon conservation, enhancement, education and habitat restoration activities in Campbell River.
Tickets are still available, and money raised will be used by the Pacific Salmon Foundation to fund projects in the local region.
Since 1999, the Pacific Salmon Foundation has made grants totaling $594,099 to 98 Pacific salmon projects in Campbell River. Combined with local fundraising, volunteers in Campbell River have leveraged these funds to generate a total of $4.8 million in conservation, enhancement, education and habitat restoration activities.
Local granting last year included the Simms Creek Stewardship Society, which received $7,500 in 2011 to hold the biennial “Wetlands to Waves” workshop over the May long weekend. The event was attended by 200 people who learned about issues affecting Pacific salmon and local streamkeeping opportunities.
Last year, the Pacific Salmon Foundation also made a major investment in the Oyster River watershed, just 25 kilometres south of Campbell River. The Foundation invested $100,000 to help create the Bear Creek Nature Park, which includes a new wetland, floodplain, Pacific salmon hatchery, and an upland second-growth forest with walking and equestrian trails along the Oyster River.
This is the third annual Pacific Salmon Foundation dinner in Campbell River, and it will be held on Saturday, February 4 at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall at 1999 14th Avenue. The dinner will kick off with champagne, a seafood reception and silent auction at 5:30 p.m., followed by a catered dinner by Rose’s Country Catering at 7 p.m., and an exciting live auction at 8:30 p.m.
The auctions and raffles will include giftware, artwork and jewelry contributed by local supporters and donors.
Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased from dinner chairman Larry E. Stefanyk, publisher of Island Fisherman Magazine, at (250) 923-0939 or ifmm@shaw.ca.
The Pacific Salmon Foundation was created in 1987 as an independent, non-governmental, charitable organization to protect, conserve and rebuild wild Pacific salmon populations in British Columbia and the Yukon. Since 1989, the Foundation has invested more than $9 million to support volunteer-driven Pacific salmon conservation projects.