Olympic Peninsula: Regenerate Salmon Habitat and Experience Tribal Culture

Meeting point in Seattle (to be arranged.) Drive 2 hours to Jamestown. The first experience will be the preparation of smoked/baked salmon and learning about Totem Pole Carving, native storytelling.

Accommodation: 7Cedars

Learn about the recovery of a river and the natural habitat of the salmon and its importance in the native culture.

Activities might include: Help plant trees for salmon habitat recovery near the Finn River Brewery.

This will be a day of activity, it can include: white water rafting, hiking, sea kayaking, or Makah canoe carving. Afterward, guests will be returned to the initial meeting point. There will be some time to reflect and share the overall experience with the participants and locals. 

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With the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the health and safety of Global Family Travels and First Nature travelers, community partners, colleagues and guides are of paramount importance to us.

Please see our COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS documents, found under the Tasks section, which outlines our commitment to mitigate and manage the risks associated with COVID-19 when you travel with us.  Please also refer to the tasks which has specific details for your activity and destination. 

Thank you for helping to keep yourself and fellow travelers and guides safe!

Based in Portland, Oregon, First Nature Tours is a custom private group tour operator that specializes in facilitating outdoor adventures and immersive experiences in the Pacific Northwest. Their professional naturalist guides aim to educate the intrepid traveler by exploring the beauty of the region through the lens of sustainable tourism and visit the naturally and culturally unique places that make the Pacific Northwest so special. Our foundation is built on increasing knowledge, appreciation, and understanding of the world around us through meaningful travel experiences.

Inhabiting this area for more than 10,000 years, the S’Klallams possessed a rich social and religious culture based on the abundant natural resources of the Northwest Coast. They moved from village to village in their traditional territory during the spring, summer and fall, for fishing and resource gathering, and settled into more permanent longhouses for the winter months. The inhabitants hunted game and subsisted on the wealth of shellfish, herring, and salmon. They were craftspeople skilled in woodcarving and basket making, and they fashioned ceremonial masks, serving dishes and utensils, and storage boxes from cedar, and woven mats, rope, and clothing from cedar bark.

“S’Klallam” derives from “nuxsklai’yem,” the original Salish language name for the S’Klallam people meaning “strong people.” The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is one of three S’Klallam bands; the others are the Lower Elwha Klallam and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribes.

The mission of The North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) is to promote robust wild salmon stocks for families, fishers, and local economies by furthering habitat restoration and education on the North Olympic Peninsula. NOSC is one of 14 Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups (RFEGs) in Washington State working on wild salmon recovery through collaborative partnerships and community volunteerism. 

The opening reception will celebrate the Jamestown S’Klallam traditions by reflecting an abundance of the sea, land, and sky – a theme that will be featured throughout the visit.

Salmon are in trouble. This critical species faces many threats including extensive habitat loss. Many of our streams, rivers, estuaries, and coastal environments are in a state of decline due to decreased water quality, less vegetative cover, less spawning gravels, increased shoreline armoring, higher temperatures, higher silt, and higher fine sediments. Today, we are facing a dramatic decline in the number of salmon in our region.

A Seattle native, Ben Wheeler has worked as a secondary school educator and administrator. Ben gave the keynote and endnote at the 2008 Global Citizenship Summit in Bali, Indonesia, and was the World Affairs Council’s 2009 World Educator. He authored the high school textbook It's All Connected - a Comprehensive Guide to Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions.  

From 2012 to early 2020, Ben taught Geography and Civilizations courses for middle schoolers at The Bush School in Seattle,  and also taught a wide-range of elective and experiential courses, including the following: Art in Public Places, Sustainable Design for Urban Living, Seattleness, Urban Forest Stewardship, Food Awareness, Oral History with Elders, Backpacking the Olympic Coast, and Stehekin Multi-Adventure.

Ben loves running, biking, fly-fishing, jazz and classical guitar, cross-country skiing, and backpacking. In addition to guiding numerous wilderness adventures in California and Washington, Ben has led international tours in Italy and India, most recently two weeks of cultural immersion in Ladakh, India, on the Himalayan Plateau.

A born naturalist, Kieron’s fascination with the natural world has led him from a childhood exploring rural Wisconsin to college study abroad trips to Costa Rica and Europe and eventually a career in Restoration Ecology. Since he began working in tourism in 2007 Kieron has been helping visitors to Portland, Seattle, Central and South America fill their trips with memorable experiences and outright adventure. His tourism career includes work for some of the top luxury travel companies in the world, such as Cruise West, Adventures by Disney and EverGreen Escapes. His experience leading groups through all corners of the Pacific Northwest have made him one of the most recognized guides in the region. On a private tour of the Olympic Peninsula with Kieron you will get more than just an education, you’ll rediscover the sense of wonder that many lose with the onset of adulthood. For Kieron guiding is more than a career, it’s a passion, and nothing makes him happier than providing people with new ideas, new adventures, and new life experiences.

After growing up on the Olympic Peninsula, Tommy Farris’ passion for the outdoors and entrepreneurship inspired him to launch the Olympic Hiking Company in 2016 based in his hometown of Port Angeles, WA. In what started as a college project at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, Tommy built Olympic Hiking Co. from the ground up, scaling his business into a commercially authorized guided hiking tour and shuttle company that operates throughout Olympic National Park. Each year, Olympic Hiking Co. facilitates group hiking tours, backpacker trailhead shuttles, custom private tours, and corporate events for over 1,000 clients and businesses. Tommy employs a team of experienced naturalist hiking guides and is an active Board Member with the Washington Tourism Alliance and Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.  During pockets of free time, Tommy enjoys hiking deep into the interior of the Olympic Mountains and capturing photos of the most rugged and remote areas of the park.

As one of the JAMESTOWN S'KLALLAM TRIBAL ENTERPRISES, 7Cedars offers an elegant, yet Casual atmosphere alive in history, scenic beauty, superior service, and excitement.

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The capacity of tours is 10 participants. If the tour date you would like to book is full we will add you to the waitlist.

Safety:

First Nature Tours will follow industry-standard COVID-19 protocols according to the criteria established by the Adventure Travel Trade Association. First Nature guides are wilderness first responder certified and will take proper precautions to ensure the health and safety of the tour participants. 

Participants will receive training and orientation by volunteer coordinators and will be presented with an overview of safety protocols and are required to sign a liability waiver as an official volunteer with the National Forest Service.

Pack List: A pack list will be provided to participants prior approximately 1 week prior to trip departure.