Tomorrow is GivingTuesday! Please help us raise funds this year for our signature place-based education program, Real Learning Real Work. We’re planning ahead as next year we foresee a shortfall of funds, and knowing the impact this program has on the lives of so many young students, we are committed to offering for many years to come. Your support will help us offer Real Learning Real Work to students across Clallam and Jefferson Counties. Click the button below to donate now!

Fall brings golden leaves, chilly air and returning salmon. This year, fall also brought the return of hundreds of local middle school students participating in the North Olympic Salmon Coalition’s Real Learning Real Work program. The program teaches students the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills necessary to envision, design, and implement their own salmon habitat restoration project. Students are travelling to local salmon streams to evaluate stream health and consider scientifically sound options for improving habitat. Blue Heron and Chimacum Middle School students recently visited the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife property on West Uncas Road for their first field trip of three for the program. It's wonderful to see students out in the field developing their STEM skills and practicing stewardship. We are excited to welcome back both the salmon and the students!

The Salmon Coalition is grateful to work with and learn from so many inspiring and dedicated people. To celebrate the contributions of this community, NOSC selects someone each month to highlight and give thanks.

This month we are highlighting Andy Brastad. Andy was a board member for six years and has recently stepped down, however he is still involved with NOSC!

My wife and I moved from Gainesville Florida to Port Angeles in August 1979. When we left Florida, we didn’t have a planned destination. We happened to be heading to Olympic National Park one hot August day and stopped on the east side of the Morse Creek overlook to look at the view of the mountains to the south and Vancouver Island to the north. There we agreed to see if we could make Port Angeles our home. We did prosper, and now have three grown sons, and currently two dogs and one cat.

From 1979 to 1985 I had numerous jobs that included working for NOAA in the Foreign Observer program monitoring fish catchments on Korean and Japanese stern trawlers; helping with a halibut population study (i.e. documenting catch data on an antiquated long-liner) in the Kodiak/Seward area for the International Halibut Commission; tracking salmon with radio transmitters sewed into their gut for a study the importance of log jams in salmon life cycle (WDNR); and documenting the smolt migration patterns, physical damage, and motility rates through two dams on the Elwha river (ONP).

From 1985 to 2020 I was employed by Clallam County working in natural resources programs, environmental health and human services. My work included watershed management planning, ground and surface water programs, instream flow rule development, and water quality protection strategies for shellfish growing areas. I also represented Clallam County in numerous natural resource planning committees. I retired in August 2020 as the Director of the Health and Human Service Department.

In my personal life I like to fill my free time doing physical activities. I’ve been involved in various martial arts for over 40 years. I also enjoy hiking, bicycling, riding and fixing my Harley which I’ve also been doing for over 40 years. For relaxation I practice Qi Gong, an ancient Chinese meditation practice to improve heath, and once a week at the Port Angeles Senior Center I teach Qi Gong.

I’ve been very fortunate to see some truly remarkable things in my many fish related jobs but I can remember one particular scene where a large female Chinook was excavating a redd in pretty large gravel and a big male Chinook was just down-stream waiting for her to deposit her eggs so he could move in to fertilize them. All the while three smaller adult males Chinook were also downstream from the redd trying to get past the larger male to make a run to fertilize the eggs too. The large male was constantly on guard chasing the smaller males away and then quickly swimming back to the female to maintain his first position and to keep other fish away. This went on for five to ten minutes and it was incredible to watch. This redd was very large and watching the female turn on her side and excavate the depression was amazing. The whole scene was unforgettable. I’ve always had great love and respect for salmon since those days when I was working in the field observing them. They were once a Washington state icon and they need our help.

As part of my work at Clallam County I was assigned to be the County Representative to the North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity (NOPLE). The NOPLE organization was established by local governments, tribes, and other interested parties to prioritize, evaluate, and recommend salmon restoration projects for state funding. I was the County representative for approximately 20 years. In that time many millions of dollars were allotted to governments, tribes, and salmon enhancement groups such as NOSC for migration barrier removal (culverts), engineered log jams, stream rehabilitation (ex. Jimmycomelately Creek), and many more types of salmon habitat enhancement projects. The work was extremely interesting and rewarding as over time I began to see the depth and breadth of work that needed to be done to undo many of the salmon habitat issues created from past human actions. To learn of a problem, have a project that addresses the problem get funded, and then see the result—i.e., the problem gets fixed and fish use increases—is very rewarding.

Because of my involvement in NOPLE, I was familiar with the Salmon Coalition, and a coworker and friend, Cathy Lear, who was the Salmon Biologist at Clallam County approached me about being her replacement on the NOSC board as her term was ending. My answer was a resounding yes. That was six years ago.

Of course, all NOSC projects are important to salmon recovery, but I do have some favorites. I think that the 3 Crabs Nearshore project was a very successful project and showed that NOSC had the ability to form important partnerships and also manage very large-scale projects. The Kilisut Harbor Restoration project that restored tidal flow between Kilisut Harbor and Oak Bay was an extremely challenging project working with multiple partners, obtaining funding and tracking budgets, managing contractors and working under difficult environmental conditions—it has got to be my favorite. The results are on an ecosystem scale improvement. Great job NOSC!

Non-profit Salmon Enhancement organizations such as NOSC play a vital role in salmon recovery efforts. It is my experience that governmental organizations such as local governments must operate following a prescribed bureaucratic pathway in proposing, funding, and implementing projects. Non-profit organizations are not quite as burdened with bureaucratic restrictions and can be more efficient. Also, I believe that nonprofit citizen groups may receive more acceptance in working with private landowners about supporting salmon recovery projects that may or may not impact their land. Both of these attributes are extremely important in salmon habitat enhancement work.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a NOSC board member. Over the years I have observed the growth of NOSC from a small citizen group to the very well-run highly trusted organization that it is today. NOSC’s success is largely due to its volunteers, field and administrative staff and board members that strive for excellence and believe the work they are doing make a difference.