News Release

US Forest Service
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 
35 College Drive
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Public Affairs (530) 543-2627
Fax: (530) 543-2743

Date: September 16, 2008
Contact: USFS Taylor Creek Visitor Center (530) 543-2674

Lake Tahoe's 19th Annual Kokanee Salmon Festival October 4 & 5, 2008

South Lake Tahoe, CA. --The Festival will take place October 4th and 5th from 10 am to 4 pm at the US Forest Service Visitor Center, 3 miles north of South Lake Tahoe on California Highway 89. From 10 am until 4 pm both Saturday and Sunday, visitors can learn about the natural wonders of Taylor Creek from Forest Service biologists, as they stroll along the Rainbow Trail. This peaceful walk through colorful aspens, willows and meadow grasses will introduce visitors to a beautiful, yet fragile ecosystem unique to the Sierra. As the trail reaches Taylor Creek, Kokanee Salmon can be seen making their way upstream. A close-up view of this natural event will be available at the Taylor Creek Stream Profile Chamber, where visitors can get a below-the-surface view of the Kokanee Salmon in Taylor Creek.

This year's celebrations include a number of events and activities that have become associated with the Salmon Festival. Back this year will be the Salmon Feed, half marathon, 5k, 10k, a children's run, children's activities, educational programs and booths, and streamside programs. On both Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm in the new Lake of the Sky Amphitheater will be the return of  "The Drama of the Kokanee Salmon - An Interactive Play". This popular interactive presentation includes members of the audience to help act out the Kokanee Salmon Story at Taylor Creek.

Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care will again be serving a delicious barbecue salmon plate Saturday and Sunday. For $14, visitors can feast on a barbecue salmon steak (the Pacific Ocean variety), corn on the cob, coleslaw, role and a beverage. Other food items will also be available for those that haven't developed a salmon palate yet! Salmon will be served Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Proceeds benefit the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and future Kokanee Salmon Festivals. For further information concerning the Salmon feed call (530) 577-CARE (2273).

On Sunday October 5th the Tahoe Mountain Milers and Sagebrush Stompers Running Clubs will present the Kokanee Trail Runs. After a one year absence, the half marathon is back and will start at 9:00 am. The children's 1/2 mile "Tadpole Trot" will start at 9:15. After the kids are finished, adults (and a growing number of young runners) are invited to compete in the 5k & 10k trail runs starting at 10 am. All runs will start at the Taylor Creek Snowpark parking lot. Race day registration will begin at 8 am. Registration and early packet pickup will be available at the Camp Richardson Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 4th from 12 pm to 4 pm. An award ceremony will take place following the runs at the Taylor Creek Snowpark parking lot.

For more information about the Kokanee Trail Runs or to get a run application call (530) 545-0045, or Email: kokaneetrailruns@sbcglobal.net (applications are also available at the Visitor Center at Taylor Creek and the Supervisor's Office at 35 College Drive). Visit the Tahoe Mountain Milers website at www.tahoemtnmilers.org for event information and course map. Parking at the Snowpark lot is limited and fills up quickly, runners are encouraged to park at Camp Richardson and car pool to the Snowpark parking lot, or arrange to be dropped off. To register, call Dave Cotter at (530) 545-0045. Volunteers are needed during the day of the race to help out with registration, timing, parking, and to help staff aid stations. Contact Dave Cotter if you would like to help.

Throughout the day, children will be greeted by "Sammy Salmon", the official mascot of the Kokanee Salmon Festival. At over 5 feet long (or tall) he's the world's largest Kokanee Salmon and the only Kokanee known to walk on his tailfins! Over the years one of the most popular events at the Festival for children has been the fish painting booth where children participate in the oriental art of fish painting. Other events at the Festival will include, educational booths by Project Kokanee, California Fish and Game, Lahonton National Fish Hatchery, a black bear display by the Tahoe Council for Wild Bears, and a bald eagle display by Forest Service biologist, self-guided nature tours and Kokanee Salmon T-Shirt sales. This year the Eldorado County Library, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will also have booths.

New this year for kids will be the "Kokanee Salmon Festival Activity Book" Book. This activity book about the life cycle of the Kokanee Salmon will be free to children, thanks to Project Kokanee and the Tahoe Heritage Foundation, on the days of the festival. The book will guide children through activities along the Rainbow Trail. When they complete the activities, they can return to the start and collect a prize.

With the popularity of the Kokanee Salmon Festival at the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center at Taylor Creek and the Octoberfest at Historic Camp Richardson Resort the parking lot at the Visitor Center fills quickly. Some free parking is available at Camp Richardson where visitors can walk back and forth between the Kokanee Salmon Festival and Octoberfest. Or visitors are encouraged to ride a bike along the bike path between Camp Richardson and the Visitor Center. This year there will also be a free trolley running between Fire Fest, the Kokanee Salmon Festival, and Octoberfest on Saturday Oct. 4th. Fire Fest takes place Saturday October 4th at the Lake Tahoe Airport from 10am to 3pm.

The Festival celebrates the dramatic and colorful spawning behaviors of the Kokanee Salmon, where a close-up look at this natural display is available in Taylor Creek and the Stream Profile Chamber.

The Kokanee, landlocked cousins of the sea-going Sockeye Salmon, were introduced to Lake Tahoe in 1944 by biologists working on the lake's north shore. These predecessors of today's inhabitants quickly adapted to the alpine environment, joining brown trout, rainbow trout and Mackinaw among the most prominent game fish in Lake Tahoe. However, no other species in Lake Tahoe offers such a spectacular show during their mating season.

Each autumn, nature calls mature Kokanee to return to the streams from which they were hatched, select a mate, spawn and die. As that time approaches, adult males develop a humped back and a heavy, hooked jaw, equipping them for the inevitable battles over both mates and territory, and both sexes turn from their usual silver/blue color to a brilliant red. Then, en masse, the fish make one mad dash to their mating grounds, fighting their way up the shallow stream, displaying their colors to attract a mate, then battling to protect the small patch of gravel streambed where they make their "redds" or nests.

Along the stream banks, the autumn aspens, willows and grasses will be as brilliant as the display in the creek below. Almost as dramatic as the story of life and death being played out in the water are the colorful combinations of orange, gold and red as the vegetation prepares to shed their foliage in anticipation of winter. Throughout the Festival, Interpretive-Naturalists will be on hand to explain the forces of nature that cause these annual displays.

Whereas most Forest Service wildlife programs focus on land animals or birds, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has created a unique educational program to view the Kokanee Salmon in their natural habitat. For those that cannot make it to the Festival the Kokanee Salmon can be seen in Taylor Creek throughout the month of October.

Sponsors of the 2008 Kokanee Salmon Festival and the Kokanee Trail Runs are Gatorade, Historic Camp Richardson Resort, Fleet Feet Sports-Carson City, California Inland Fisheries Foundation Inc. (CIFFI), Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Pro Leisure, Tahoe Heritage Foundation, the Tahoe Council for Wild Bears, and California Fish and Game, and the US Forest Service. All proceeds from T-shirt sales, festival pin sales, and the run events benefit the environmental education programs sponsored by the Forest Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

For more information on the Kokanee Salmon Festival, contact the Lake Tahoe Visitor Center at Taylor Creek at (530) 543-2674 or visit the Kokanee Salmon Festival web page.

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