At today’s LIVE annual meeting of northwest winegrowers we presented our 2018 Hero of Salmon award to Lowell Ford of Oregon’s Illahe Vineyards for exceptional work to restore wetlands adjacent to the vineyard alongside Glen Creek, four miles upstream of the Willamette River. Illahe also has partnered with NRCS to plant native plants and particularly pollinators in the vineyard.
Constructed from a reclaimed Oregon highway sign, the Hero of Salmon wall mountable salmon sculpture is awarded each year to a Pacific Northwest vineyard for exceptional conservation of biodiversity. Illahe’s 80-acre estate vineyard near Salem, Oregon, has been Salmon-Safe certified for more than a decade through our partnership with winegrower certification initiative LIVE.