Wild Fish Runs

The Wild Fish Conservancy Newsletter
February 2026

This month brings big updates from Wild Fish Conservancy, as we welcome new additions to our staff and board—and reflect with gratitude on the decades of contributions made by two of our outgoing board members. We're also celebrating major wins for wild fish as progress on a critical fish restoration project moves forward—and the Let Our Salmon Come Home campaign continues to grow and make an impact. 

Field Notes: Updates on Our Current Projects

Discover how Wild Fish Conservancy staff are working in the field to safeguard wild fish and their habitats. Here’s a look at just a few of the projects we’re focused on right now.

A 300-foot-long culvert and failing tidegate impede wild salmon access to spawning and rearing habitats located upstream in the Finn Creek watershed. 

An Update on the Finn Creek Estuary Restoration Project

Wild Fish Conservancy is pleased to announce that we have secured a prestigious grant award from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to advance a critical fish habitat restoration project in the Finn Creek Watershed on Washington's Kitsap Peninsula. 

Once a thriving estuary providing critical rearing and nursery habitat for fish and wildlife species native to Puget Sound, the Finn Creek Estuary is now buried under fill and blocked by human-made conditions. These impacts have destroyed estuarine foraging habitats for wild fish, including Chinook salmon that are imperative to the recovery of Southern Resident killer whales. 

With this recently awarded grant, progress on the Finn Creek Estuary restoration project will move into final design and permitting—bringing us closer to removing fish passage barriers, restoring tidal flow, and reconnecting two miles of spawning and rearing habitat for wild salmon. Visit our website to learn more about this project and the future of the Finn Creek estuary. 

Join the Growing Coastwide Movement to Let Our Salmon Come Home

Earlier this month, the Let Our Salmon Come Home campaign and its growing coalition of supporters came together in powerful solidarity at the Pacific Salmon Commission's 41st Annual Meeting. An unprecedented number of individuals signed up to testify, and the Commission was unprepared for the extraordinary outpouring of support. With record-breaking turnout, it was the most attended meeting the Commission has seen in at least 20 years—and the message the campaign brought was clear: Let Our Salmon Come Home. 

Now, it's time to build on that momentum. You can join others across the Pacific Coast by raising your voice, taking action, and strengthening the coastwide movement working to bring our salmon home to the local watersheds, communities, and ecosystems that depend on them. 

Join the Movement today so you never miss an update or opportunity to take action. Your support helps restore local control over the destiny and recovery of our salmon populations and fisheries—and ensures a thriving future for salmon, orcas, coastal communities, and ecosystems.

Wild Fish Conservancy welcomes Tim Ragen (left) and Pete Bisson (right) to its Board of Directors.

Celebrating Outgoing Board Members and Welcoming New Leadership

This year brings both exciting new leadership and deep gratitude for the long-serving board members who have helped shape Wild Fish Conservancy over the past three decades. We're honored to introduce two new board members: Tim Ragen and Pete Bisson, who each bring exceptional expertise and a longstanding commitment to conservation and wild fish recovery. You can learn more about our newly elected board members—including Misty MacDuffee, who we introduced in our November 2025 newsletter—on our website. 

As we welcome new leadership to our board, we are also saying farewell to two of Wild Fish Conservancy's foundational leaders: Hugh Lewis and Vance Jennings. For more than thirty years, Hugh and Vance have been central to building Wild Fish Conservancy into the organization it is today. Their vision, persistence, humor, and unwavering dedication have shaped not only our programs, but our values and culture as well. 

As we reflect with gratitude on the leadership that brought us here, we look forward to shaping what comes next with our new and returning board members, continuing our mission to preserve, protect, and restore the northwest's wild fish and the ecosystems they depend on. 

Garret Engelke, Fisheries Field Technician with Wild Fish Conservancy.

Wild Fish Conservancy Welcomes New Fisheries Field Technician 

Wild Fish Conservancy is thrilled to welcome Fisheries Field Technician Garret Engelke to our staff. Garret comes to Wild Fish Conservancy from NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center, where he served as a Marine Habitat Resource Specialist. In his role with Wild Fish Conservancy, Garret performs water typing, conducts fish passage assessments, and assists with project development.

Garret said one of the reasons he was drawn to Wild Fish Conservancy is its commitment to providing science-based solutions that influence policy and help wild salmon thrive. "Prioritizing science over political expediency is how we will reach salmon recovery goals."

Looking ahead, Garret said, "I plan to grow with Wild Fish Conservancy, lead research and monitoring projects, and develop new habitat restoration initiatives. I want to see firsthand that the work I put into a particular watershed is making it healthier and more productive."

We're excited to have Garret join the team and look forward to the expertise and energy he brings to our restoration work. You can learn more about Garret—and all the people behind Wild Fish Conservancy—on our website. 

Featured image by Conrad Gowell

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