The annual Idaho Rivers United Salmon Festival will take place Saturday, Aug. 20, in Stanley, with food, fun and salmon tours.
Author Steven Hawley, who wrote "Recovering a Lost River," will be on hand to help lead salmon tours and provide information about these remarkable fish.
A dinner of wild Alaskan salmon will be offered from 6-8 p.m. Dinners cost $15 for adults and $10 for kids. All other activities are free.
Idaho Rivers United is a conservation organization formed to protect and restore the rivers of Idaho. Since 1990, the organization has worked to safeguard Idaho's imperiled wild steelhead and salmon, protecting and enhancing stream flows and riparian areas, and defending and promoting the wild and scenic qualities of Idaho's rivers. It has more than 3,500 members.
Saturday's festival is an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the salmon and steelhead that swim 900 miles inland from the sea to spawn in the Sawtooth Valley north of Ketchum.
"This difficult journey is special because the salmon you will see in the Salmon River this summer have all been there before," said Greg Stahl, Idaho Rivers United assistant policy director and one of the festival organizers. "It is their birthplace, imprinted in their memories from the time they left it as young smolts."
Each summer, salmon and steelhead travel from the Pacific Ocean to the high-elevation spawning habitat of central Idaho, nearly 7,000 feet above sea level.
"How they do it is not fully understood, but somehow adult salmon manage to find their way home each year," Stahl said.
The festival will be held at the Stanley Interpretive and Historical Association (the Stanley Museum) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Camping, hiking and biking can be found at many locations in the area.
Educational tours of salmon spawning beds will take place in Stanley at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., providing a chance to witness the miracle of wild salmon spawning in the streams of their birth.
Following the tour there will be informational vendor booths and live music.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
It’s all about salmon at the annual Idaho Rivers United Salmon Festival in Stanley. Photo by Mountain Express
