“Hero of Salmon” Awards from reclaimed Oregon Highway Signs Presented at “Salmon in the City” Urban Design & Ecology Event at REI’s Seattle Flagship Store
Salmon-Safe, the leading regional eco-certification program that helps landowners adopt practices to protect Pacific salmon, today announced that Vulcan will become the nation’s first Salmon-Safe accredited developer, and will receive the organization’s “Hero of Salmon” Award at “Salmon in the City” at REI’s Flagship store in Seattle. Vulcan, which was founded by the late Microsoft co-founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Paul Allen, is being recognized for its work reducing watershed impacts from development.
Vulcan is being honored for projects including South Lake Union campuses for Google and Facebook, as well as earlier projects like the Allen Institute and Yesler Terrace. Other Salmon-Safe Seattle area developments now underway includes high profile projects like Expedia, the Washington State Convention Center expansion, and REI’s new Bellevue campus.
In addition to Vulcan, the development partnership COU LLC and University of Washington professor emeritus Rich Horner will be honored at the event. COU LLC is being recognized for their Salmon-Safe certified projects in Seattle, including inspiring the Seattle Green Bridges project, managing stormwater runoff from the Aurora Bridge. Dr. Horner is being honored for his national leadership on reducing water pollution and for his work on stormwater science, which has helped inform Salmon-Safe’s work for the past two decades.
“At this time when the plight of Puget Sound orca are top of mind, developers like Vulcan and COU LLC are leading the way through development that is healthier for watersheds,” said Dan Kent, Salmon-Safe co-founder and executive director. “This event is an opportunity to provide these companies, along with stormwater scientist Dr. Rich Horner who has helped guide Salmon-Safe’s work on the urban landscape, with much deserved recognition and, we hope, inspires others to take similar action.”
In addition to the Hero of Salmon awards, this year’s event features several speakers, including Nat Scholz, PhD, of NOAA Fisheries; Brook Muller, professor of architecture and director of the Portland Architecture program, University of Oregon; and Ellen Southard of Salmon-Safe Puget Sound and Site Story. These speakers will address emerging research related to urban stormwater and salmon as well as advances in urban design to integrate habitat conservation and watershed health.
