Celebrate the return of chum salmon at Swan Creek Park

Visitors to Swan Creek Park can get a first-hand introduction to the life history of salmon during Salmon Saturday.

This is the 12th annual celebration, a kind of welcome home party, sponsored by the Friends of the Swan Creek Watershed, a volunteer advocacy group.

The event offers visitors a chance to see some of the creek’s chum salmon during the final phase of their life, when mature 3- to 5-year-old fish return to their birthplace to spawn and then die.

Attendees can walk along the creek, where volunteer guides will be stationed to answer questions about salmon and their life cycle.

There also will be emphasis on conservation. Visitors can find out what homeowners and gardeners can do to protect local water quality and help salmon survive. There will be an opportunity to test Swan Creek water.

Activities are geared to both children and adults, said Sue Bernstein of Friends of Swan Creek Watershed.

“Everything’s hands-on,” she said.

Also on hand will be representatives from the Tacoma Nature Center and CHIP-in stewardship program, plus Tacoma’s EnviroChallenger program, Citizens for a Healthy Bay and the Pierce Conservation District.

There also will be volunteer-made cookies and hot chocolate to ward off the day’s expected cold temperatures.

The creek runs through the 373-acre park, which straddles Tacoma’s eastern boundary line. Metro Parks Tacoma manages 290 acres on the south end of the park, while the rest is owned by Pierce County.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:15 AM with the headline "Celebrate the return of chum salmon at Swan Creek Park."