River Stewards Recognized for Lifetime Achievement Awards

At this year's Homewaters Banquet, Native Fish Society acknowledged two longstanding River Stewards, Joyce Sherman and Ian Fergusson for Lifetime Achievement Awards -- our highest honor.

Joyce Sherman, Photo: Nathan Howard, News-Times.

Ian Fergusson, Photo: Peter Donahower

For more than two decades, Joyce and Ian have led teams of volunteers into the Salmonberry River to count and monitor spawning wild winter steelhead. ODFW has winter steelhead counts going back to 1973, and since 1993, Joyce and Ian have led a group of volunteers from Native Fish Society and Northwest Steelheaders into the Salmonberry to keep this important data set running and track long term trends.

Together, they have been the boots-on-the-ground protectors and advocates for this important watershed, inspiring a countless number of volunteers, and shaping a new generation of wild fish advocates on the Oregon Coast.

Thank you Joyce and Ian!

If you have not had a chance to join Joyce and Ian in one of their spawning surveys, make sure you check out the Salmonberry survey dates for Spring of 2018.