North Cascades

Salmon of the Skagit River Watershed

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SALMON GONE?

Background Nature reserves, wilderness areas, and national parks like North Cascades are protected from development. Outside of the protected lands of the North Cascades Ecosystem, these habitats are destroyed or altered by humans. Harvesting of timber and the development of those lands subsequent to harvests, over-harvesting of fish, development of agricultural lands, destruction of wetlands, dams, (basically encroachment and over development) and other factors influence the population of salmon that live in the Skagit Watershed. As these areas are changed, the conditions of the Watershed changes too. Decreased water quality means that the danger of extinction increases for the salmon runs. Salmon go wherever they need to in order to locate enough food, water, shelter, and space to survive. They are anadromous fish, which means they are born fresh water and travel to the salt water and travel back again to fresh water to spawn and complete their life cycle. The salmon life cycle takes them beyond the boundaries of protected land. The degradation of salmon habitat is due to development, dams, pollution, and dredging. Check the reference page on the salmon species that utilize the Skagit River Watershed. Method The students will play a game which displays how salmon populations are reduced by human interference. Procedure The instructor must have enough food, water, and shelter bingo or poker chips to satisfy the following guidelines: The chip colors for the three elements of habitat (food, water, shelter) need to be different. There are four rounds to this activity. For the first round, have enough of each color chip for each child to get one of each. For each of the next three rounds, subtract six from the numbers of chips needed in the previous round. For example, if you start with 30 of each color for Round One, have 24 for Round Two, 18 for Round Three, and 12 for Round Four, giving a total of 84 chips for each color. Before going outside, have each student chooses a salmon species that swims in the Skagit River Watershed that they would like to represent. Have each student write the name of his or her salmon species on a name tag and tape it to the student.

SUBJECTS Science, Social studies OBJECTIVES The students will be able to describe the consequences of shrinking salmon habitat. The students will be able to describe the role of parks in preserving habitat. The students will be able to describe at least three ways they can help preserve salmon habitat. VOCABULARY Anadromous, Migration, Habitat, Population MATERIALS One name tag for each student Three different colors of bingo chips. For each one of these colors you will need approximately 2-1/2 times the number of students who will participate in this activity Masking tape 15 or more yards of rope A bucket or box for collecting chips between rounds SIZE / SETTING / DURATION Whole class Large open area or playing field 1 hour; 1/2 hour for activity and 1/2 hour for discussion

1. Place the rope on the ground in a circle or other shape. Have the students stand inside the rope. Explain to them that the rope represents their space, and they cannot stray outside the boundary of that space. Also remind them that they represent young salmon of the Skagit River Watershed. They are constantly searching for food, water, and shelter for survival. Life is good, though, and they have plenty of space in which to wander and find what they need.

2. Randomly scatter the Round One chips within the circle and tell the students they need to gather at least one of each color chip in order to survive. Make sure they know they must walk, not run, and that pushing is not allowed. You may want to ask the students to close their eyes as you scatter the chips so they will have to search for their food a little bit.

3. After the students have gathered up all the chips, find out who has enough chips and who does not. Those who did gather at least one chip that represents water, one chip that represents food, and one that represents shelter are considered survivors. Have those who did not survive become spectators. Remind the students that every salmon needs to work to find its food, water, and shelter and must compete with other salmon, other species of fish, and animals to find enough to survive. (Note: although theoretically, there are enough chips for each student to obtain one of each habitat requirement/color, some students may have gathered more than one of a certain habitat requirement, therefore, not each student may get one chip of each requirement and will have to step out for future rounds.)

1. The students who did not survive Round One are now spectators. The students who survived Round One should stand inside the rope circle.

2. Scatter the Round Two chips within the rope circle and repeat Round One's procedure.

3. During the discussion, use the childrens' name tags to point out the decrease in numbers of salmon and the species of salmon that no longer live in the Watershed. Make the point that as habitat decreases, the available food, water, and shelter also decline, making survival more of a challenge. As habitat decreases, the diversity of salmon decreases too because different species utilize different sections of the Watershed. Be certain to mention that that as habitat decreases, the availability of food, water, and shelter also decreases, making survival more of a challenge.

1. Tighten the rope circle now, making the "habitat area" smaller, barely large enough for the remaining students to stand in.

2. Repeat the procedure, using the Round Three set of chips.

3. Again, point out that as the habitat area decreases, so does the number and variety of salmon.

1. Make the rope circle even smaller, too small for all the remaining students to fit.

2. Using the Round Four set of chips, play the game once more.

Discussion
In the final discussion, point out that salmon need habitat to survive. If there is not enough food, water, and shelter for the salmon, their numbers will decline, and eventually disappear. And as illustrated in Round Four, habitat can be reduced to a point where there is not even enough space for salmon. National parks and wilderness areas are set aside as habitat preserves for wild organisms, including salmon. As development expands along park boundaries, the remaining habitat within parks become more and more valuable and may not be adequate for some species to survive.

It has become obvious that the habitat areas protected within parks may not be enough for salmon to survive.

Write the words "extinct," "endangered," and "threatened" on the chalkboard or on another surface for all to see. Tell the students that their populations became endangered or threatened when they became small in number. An "endangered" species is any organism (plant, bird, fish or animal species) that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A "threatened" species is one that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. "Extinction" means that organism is gone from Earth forever and that it is final.

Tell students that the sizes of salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest are declining. Some runs of salmon have become threatened, endangered, and extinct. Take time to talk about the needs of salmon. ("Biodiversity" would do well to be introduced here. The term biodiversity is defined below.) What do they think about the fact that the salmon numbers are declining? Please discuss the term extinction and the connotations of this term. How does protected land help the salmon? Can the salmon survive if the land inside of national parks is the only intact habitat for salmon?

Ask the students to think of ways they can help preserve salmon. Some answers might include not littering, picking up litter when they find it, not dumping wastes into the water system, using less electricity (less need for dams), protecting salmon habitat in their neighborhood by being careful around stream and in forest groves, and teaching others about the importance of salmon habitat protection.