Dominant years (2010, 2014) you can see millions of sockeye return to spawn in October.

Subdominant years (2011, 2015) you can see 100,000+ sockeye return to spawn in October.

Post-subdominant years (2012, 2016) you can see 100′s of sockeye return to spawn in October (smallest returns).

Pre-dominant years (2009, 2013) you can see 10,000+ sockeye return to spawn in October.

Find us at Roderick Haig-Brown Park (2300 Squilax Anglemont Rd, Lee Creek, BC), in the Log Cabin Interpretive Centre Wednesdays and Sundays, from Victoria Day Weekend until Oct 17, 2012 (10 am to 4pm). The park is open year-round and has 26 km of trails! Pink salmon spawn in the Adams River in September on odd years only; Chinook salmon spawn here in Sept/October; Sockeye salmon spawn in the Adams River in the first few weeks of October, followed by coho salmon in late October and early November:

Directions to Roderick Haig-Brown Park from Chase, BC

Check out and LIKE our new Facebook page to view our posts on your news feed (home page) and to learn up-to-date news about wild salmon, as well as cultural and natural histories of the Adams River and Roderick Haig-Brown Park (including Plant of the Day and more):

Adams River Salmon Society Facebook Page

October 2012 News:

by Celia A Nord

education@salmonsociety.com

As expected, October was a busy month in the log cabin Interpretive Centre in Roderick Haig-Brown Park. The free interpretive walks given three times daily throughout Thanksgiving Weekend were a big hit with locals, European and Asian visitors, Albertans and more. Each day of that weekend, the number of cars parked in the lot averaged at about 85 or 90 throughout the day. Interest in the free interpretive walks throughout the rest of the month was also high. Numbers of school groups joined me for walks and talks about the cultural and natural histories of the park with a special emphasis on the role of local ecosystems in the survival of salmon. Even though the numbers of sockeye that returned were so few that it was rare to see any in the river at any given time (our trails only allow us to see 20% of the river as it is), there was a large return of chinook visible about a 5 minute walk upriver from the main parking area. The low numbers of returning sockeye was not too unexpected since the number of returns of sockeye, four years ago, in 2008 was only about 150.

As most of you are aware, because of the sockeye 4 year cycle, within a 4 year span in the Adams River, there is a dominant year (in the millions, the last being in 2010), followed by a sub-dominant year (in the hundreds of thousands, as there were last year), then (this year) a post-subdominant year (usually in the thousands, though for the last few cycle it has been in the hundreds) and a pre-dominant year (in the 10’s of thousands), which will be next year. You can view a pdf of the numbers of returning sockeye to the Adams River on our website (www.salmonsociety.com), on the Learn More page, by clicking on a hyperlink called Adams River Escapements (a DFO term to refer to the numbers of sockeye that returned to spawn). This will give you an idea of how the patterns have played out since 1938. You will notice that, after the US and Canada, built the fishways at Hell’s Gate in the 1940’s, the numbers increased back to those similar to what we see now.

It can often be disappointing for visitors to come expecting to see millions of sockeye return to spawn every year. We are doing our best to inform people of the variations in the runs, via email requests for information, data posted on our website, news releases and one on one contact in the park. Myself, and board members from the Salmon Society, attended a stakeholders meeting about proposed upgrades by BC Parks to the day-use area of Roderick Haig-Brown Park. We are looking forward to having a major role in the upcoming changes that will enhance the experience of the park in non-spawning seasons and non-dominant years.

I had direct contact with about 2,000 people throughout the summer and fall, in the cabin and on walks. The interpretive centre is now closed for the season. I look forward to connecting with all of you next year.

education@salmonsociety.com

August was an eventful month for the Adams River Salmon Society. Mid-month the Society was a co-sponsor of the outreach Routes & Blues program and had a booth at the Roots & Blues music festival in Salmon Arm. I lead two interpretive walks for the Routes & Blues at Albas and on the Adams River Gorge Trail. These walks were well attended and a lot of fun and were followed by local community dinners and great live music. The Shuffle Demons and the Salmon Armenians played at Seymour Arm after our Albas hike and Murray Porter and his Rez Blues Band played at the Quaaout Lodge after our Adams River Gorge Trail hike.

Earlier in the month I had an opportunity to travel very close to the headwaters of the Adams River when we did an overnight camping trip to Tumtum Lake and explored the Upper Adams River and the Oliver Creek valleys. You can read more about this adventure and how it relates to our wild salmon, in the next installment of the Firestarter newspaper (October 2012).

We added another open day (Sunday) at the Interpretive Cabin at the main parking area in Roderick Haig-Brown Park. We are now open on Wednesdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm through until October 17, 2012. Come in during those times and ask me about going on an interpretive walk (free). We will also have our annual interpretive walks every day of the Thanksgiving weekend at 10am, 12:30pm and 3pm. The Salmon Society programming will finish on October 19, 2012 and start up again next year on the Victoria Day Long Weekend. School and other youth or non-profit organization may make appointments to attend one of my interpretive walks in October on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays until October 19, 2012 (education@salmonsociety.com).

There were several sockeye spawning in a channel between the Cottonwood Trail and the Adams River near the end of August. These may have been diverted members of the group spawning at that time in Scotch Creek or part of the Upper Adams Run; the fisheries people are looking into it. There are two bears hanging about the rivermouth so please follow proper bear aware procedures (www.bearaware.bc.ca) when hiking in the park. Groups of 3 or more make enough noise to alert bears of our presence and don’t run when you see a bear (he may instinctively chase you) but rather stop, back up slowly and then calmly walk away. If a bear stands up, he is not being aggressive, but merely getting a better look, and to smell and hear better. Attacks and especially injuries from black bears are very rare. In fact, bears suffer much more from us being in their territory than we do from their presence.

A section of the Island Loop Trail in Roderick Haig-Brown Park has been blocked off due to dangerous bank erosion near the trail. These barricades have already been vandalized by visitors! Please respect the signs and stay on designated trails and enjoy your walk in our park. Roderick Haig-Brown Park has 26 km of trails! Staying on the trails protects the riparian environments that make these waterways perfect for the millions of salmon (pink, chinook, sockeye and coho) that come to the Adams River to spawn.

The 2012 sockeye salmon run is expected to be smaller than the previous year but will still afford opportunities in October to view salmon, as well as local flora and fauna and to learn about the cultural and natural histories of this unique ecosystem, which supports the largest sockeye salmon run in the Americas. All tours meet at the log cabin Interpretive Centre (Adams River Salmon Society) in the main parking area of the Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park (2300 Squilax Anglemont Rd, North Shuswap, BC).

The Peak Year art exhibit, sponsored by the Adams River Salmon Society, has been touring and is now showing, until Sept 22, at the Kamloops Art Council Gallery, in the Old Courthouse at 1st Ave and Seymour St. in Kamloops. These are salmon-related images that were inspired by the 2010 sockeye run, and produced by regional artists. The sockeye are due to return to the Adams River in October.

Struggling against insurmountable odds, 1 out of every four thousand eggs laid in the Adams River lives to return to the Adams River as a spawning adult. Experience the majesty, beauty and tragically poignant life of the Pacific Sockeye Salmon; attend the 2010 Salute to the Sockeye celebration at Roderick Haig Brown Park, October 2-24, 2010 in British Columbia’s Scenic Shuswap Region. Learn More…