Yumi and I attended Workshop 2005, a BC streamkeepers' conference that is held every two years. This time it was at the North Vancouver Outdoor School near Squamish.
It was the first time we attended the workshops and we had a great time despite the rainy weekend.
The event started off with registration and displays on Friday evening at the Totem Hall of the Squamish Nation. It was an impressive facility, and the banquet there on Saturday night was great.
Saturday and Sunday there were numerous interesting and educational workshops on the beautiful grounds of the school, and things wound up with a presentation of Mark Angelo's impressive RiverWorld show.
Since we work on an urban stream, we were encouraged by the "Saving the World" workshop, in which Department of Fisheries and Oceans Community Advisor Tom Rutherford spoke of the importance of rehabilitating such watersheds.
He said he is often asked why he spends so much time working on urban watercourses to which only a few salmon return to spawn. The bottom line is the educational opportunity. He said up north you may find relatively pristine watersheds with 100,000 spawners and 100 human residents. In urban areas you have creeks with 100 spawners, and 100,000 people -- and it is people who need to learn and change for salmon to survive.