There is a new (in 2013) Secretary of Interior who is the ex CEO of REI, HQ in Seattle. Sammamish Review covers the Secretary of Interior’s visit to Lake Sammamish to announce the Urban Wildlife Refuge Initiative.

The partnership will help connect people in the Seattle metro-area to the great outdoors and, in particular, efforts to restore kokanee salmon runs in the Lake Sammamish Watershed.
“Children have become increasingly disconnected from nature,” Jewell said. “The Lake Sammamish Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership seeks to reverse this trend by providing meaningful opportunities for urban residents in the region, especially young people, to get outdoors and engage in hands-on learning and conservation of kokanee salmon and its habitat.”

Below is a picture of Lake Sammamish looking to the South with Mt. Rainier in the background. Where the little red rectangle is where I have lived for over 20 years. Bald Eagles are regularly in trees. Otters are in the lake eating crawfish. And sometime in future hopefully more kokanee salmon.