Salmon Center History

On March 1, 1993, three lifetime members of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group (HCSEG), Jerry Manuel, Peter Grimm and Al Adams, along with attorney John Burgess, spent several hours discussing a novel concept: a Salmon Museum and Learning Center of the Pacific Northwest to be located somewhere in the Hood Canal region. Some of the thoughts expressed at this meeting were recorded as follows:

  1. Form a non-profit corporation.
  2. Create a mission to enhance the knowledge of and appreciation for Wild Salmon of the Pacific Northwest and the world.
  3. Create a mission of the Salmon Foundation "to ensure stewardship for the Salmon Museum and all of its activities. This stewardship will require effective leadership, stable funding and broad public support."
  4. Create a museum of Wild Salmon of the world, particularly the Pacific Northwest.
  5. Create a public and professional learning center with meeting rooms and classrooms.
  6. Create multiple displays.
  7. Ownership through a combination of broad public and private administration.
  8. Executive Director with Salmon Foundation Board

All of these thoughts and ideas lay dormant for several years waiting for the right circumstances to spring to life. In early 1998, the HCSEG adopted a long-term goal to "Create a Wild Salmon Museum and Learning Center" featuring a "Wild Salmon Hall of Fame." That same year, the HCSEG moved into new offices at the Hood Canal Watershed Project Center (HCWPC), an arm of the Mary E. Theler Community Center and associated with the North Mason School District. Through their outstanding environmental education and interpretive program at the Theler Wetlands and the drive and leadership at the HCWPC and their many partnerships, including the HCSEG, they evolved as the leaders to take this concept of the "Salmon Museum and Learning Center" and run with it.

In early December 2001, the magic moment arrived. An out of state family with a summer home on Hood Canal offered a philanthropic gift of $50,000 to the HCSEG to create a conceptual design for the Salmon Museum and Learning Center. They liked what the HCSEG was doing with youth, education, and the environment.

A core group was formed consisting of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the HCSEG and METCC. Together they established a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, named the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center (PNWSC), on July 17, 2002. It took nine years to form a non-profit "Salmon Foundation", but there will be no stopping our efforts to create a world-renowned Salmon Center.

 The time has come to spring to life.