Roderick Haig-Brown Park has a bit of a new look.
Excavators and saws working on a multi-year construction project have left new facilities to greet people visiting the park to view the spawning salmon.
On Sept. 28, officials joined the Adams River Salmon Society to kick off the Salute to the Sockeye Festival; the world-renowned event celebrating the dominant sockeye run in the Fraser River.
The $1.2 million dollar construction project allows for greater flexibility in Roderick Haig-Brown Park, and provides new facilities for large and small groups. A new, smaller day-use area meets the needs of families and individuals who come year-round to hike, mountain bike, snowshoe, ski and view wildlife. A new gathering space can adequately accommodate large festivals and community events.
Additional improvements include: a new viewing platform; a buffer zone between the Adams River and park facilities, to better protect habitat; new trails, signs and displays; closing and rehabilitation of older trails; new picnic tables; new interpretive information kiosks and signs; the hardening of surfaces, lowering grades, removing barriers and providing resting spots for greater accessibility; and a modified parking lot, enabling more parking in times of high traffic.
The Adams River Salmon Society, the Secwepemc First Nation, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and other community members have been actively involved with BC Parks on this project.
Scotch Creek
The federal government and the Pacific Salmon Foundation announced at the Salute to Sockeye celebration that $95,000 in Community Salmon Program grants went to three projects in the Okanagan Shuswap region.
Two of the grants were to the Adams River Salmon Society for work at nearby Scotch Creek, with the third to the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre Society for their project on the Lower Shuswap River.
Funding for all of these grants was generated in part through the proceeds from anglers obtaining Salmon Conservation Stamps through Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
In addition to funds generated from the federal Salmon Conservation Stamp, the grants are made possible by Pacific Salmon Foundation fundraising dinners in 10 communities and donations from individuals, foundations and businesses.
The projects in Roderick Haig Brown Park were also supported with a donation from Rocky Mountaineer, which has been a long-time supporter of the Pacific Salmon Foundation and salmon conservation in the Fraser River Basin.