PR 45 09

 BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TUESDAY, Sept. 15, 2009
CONTACT: Nanine Alexander, BPA (503) 230-3520 or
media line 503-230-5131

MEDIA ADVISORY

This Thursday, BPA takes kids wading in Icicle Creek

LEAVENWORTH, Wash. -Volunteers from the Bonneville Power Administration believe one of the best ways to teach children about healthy salmon habitats is to show them firsthand, and that’s the purpose of the “Kids in the Creek” program. 

On Sept. 17 and 18, an anticipated 3,000 third- through sixth-grade students from about 60 Wenatchee Valley schools will put on rubber waders to hunt for signs of a healthy river. BPA volunteers will serve as guides, taking the kids into Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, Wash., to learn what effect a healthy stream environment has on salmon. BPA conducts this educational outreach effort in connection with the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival.

What:  Third- through sixth-grade students in rubber waders looking under rocks and around plants for examples of insect life found in healthy streams. They’ll use “bug cards” to aid in identification.
Why:    Healthy spawning and rearing streams are critical to salmon survival and the overall vitality of the Columbia River ecosystem.
When:  Thursday, Sept. 17, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
            Friday, Sept. 18, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Where: Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, 12790 Fish Hatchery Road, Leavenworth, Wash.

The following Central Washington cities plan to send student groups: Almira, Cashmere, Chelan, East Wenatchee, Entiat, Leavenworth, Orondo, Oroville, Royal City, Selah, Tonasket, Wenatchee, Wilson Creek. About 60 schools are expected to participate.

BPA employee volunteers have been conducting "Kids in the Creek" for Wenatchee Valley students since 1993.

For directions and hatchery details, visit: www.fws.gov/leavenworth/lvisit.htm. For details about the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, visit: www.salmonfest.org.

BPA is a not-for-profit federal electric utility that operates a high-voltage transmission grid comprising more than 15,000 miles of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.  It also markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. The power is produced at 31 federal dams operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation and one nuclear plant in the Northwest and is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities. BPA purchases power from seven wind projects and has more than 2,200 megawatts of wind interconnected to its transmission system.