April 11, 2006
Current understanding, emerging issues of coastal rivers is topic Wednesday
With few of the Pacific Northwest’s 200 coastal rivers remaining unaltered by human development, watershed scientists are meeting this week to consider emerging policy issues and scientific challenges they foresee in the decade ahead.
Ten presentations and a panel discussion are planned as part of the “Stewardship and Restoration of Coastal Rivers” conference, Wednesday, April 12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry. Registration, $35 for students and $90 for professionals, can be done online at http://fish.washington.edu/research/crrc/events.html or at the door.
The conference is being organized through the Coastal Rivers Research Consortium, a group striving to enhance the understanding of Pacific Northwest coastal rivers by sharing information among resource scientists, educators, managers and policy makers. Both the consortium and conference are sponsored by the University of Washington’s College of Ocean and Fisheries Sciences, Earth Initiative and Washington Sea Grant Program, as well as by the Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey and the Weyerhaeuser Co.
Session on current understanding of coastal rivers as ecological systems range from a perspective from British Columbia on salmon conservation to potential effects on coastal rivers from global change.
“Coastal rivers underpin the region’s environmental vitality, and help define what is truly special about the Pacific Northwest,” says Robert Naiman, UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. While much has been said and written about the issues facing large rivers such as the Columbia and Fraser, which originate in the interior of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, the numerous coastal rivers that shape our everyday experiences and represent much of our future, are also facing daunting challenges and in great need of societal attentions.”
For additional registration information, contact Kathleen Herrmann, crrcinfo@u.washington.edu.
