Clean Water for Salmon: Building a Salmon-Safe movement across the Salish Sea

Two decades after first certifying vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Salmon-Safe has become a leading regional North American eco label, with more than 90,000 acres transitioned to Salmon-Safe practices that protect water quality and wildlife habitat. Based in Oregon, Salmon-Safe works through a network of place-based implementation partners from Alaska to southern Oregon. The Salish Sea has been a particular focus for Salmon-Safe since joining with Seattle-based Stewardship Partners in 2004 to incentivize riparian restoration by farmers alongside the Snoqualmie River and Fraser Basin Council (as well as then-partner Pacific Salmon Foundation) in 2010 to introduce Salmon-Safe in British Columbia. Salmon-Safe’s collaboration with Stewardship Partners has transitioned more than 100 Puget Sound farms as well as multiple golf courses to Salmon-Safe certification and Fraser Basin Council leads Salmon-Safe outreach throughout BC. This session will describe Salmon-Safe’s collaborative approach to program delivery around the Salish Sea, highlighting the adaptation of outreach, certification standards, technical guidance, marketing messaging, and other tools for application on both sides of the border. Salmon-Safe’s vision for this work is to help inspire a shift to urban development and farming practices that have a positive impact on the Salish Sea. This session will highlight Salmon-Safe success stories around the Salish Sea as well as the challenges of scaling up market-based conservation at a transboundary landscape level