October is a time for tricks and treats, so treat yourself with a visit to a national wildlife refuge during National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 14-20. Join us as we celebrate America's wildlife heritage with events planned around the Pacific Region.  Come and see what wildlife refuges are doing to conserve our natural resources and protect essential habitat.  Established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, the National Wildlife Refuge System is the premier network of public lands set aside to protect wildlife.  Let's Go Outside and celebrate the wildlife that comes naturally.

A group of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees recently joined river advocates and tribal leaders to celebrate the return of salmon and steelhead to Washington's White Salmon River with a traditional salmon bake honoring the river restoration project and the people who made it happen.   The project began last October, when a blast of dynamite breached Condit Dam and released a free-flowing White Salmon River for the first time in nearly a century. Many observers focused on fish, and how they would respond to the new habitat once things settled down. Condit Dam stood 3.3 miles from the White Salmon River's confluence with the Columbia River, blocking all access farther upstream. The breach and dam removal mean miles of new White Salmon habitat for salmon and steelhead.  Their return didn't take long. In July, wildlife officials confirmed migrating steelhead well past what remained of Condit Dam and spring chinook salmon, fall chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout have all been spotted since then.  FWS officials have begun regular surveys on the river and will monitor the progress of the restoration effort and map where fish are spawning.  Surveyors identified a handful of spawning locations.  This work only captures the beginning of a potentially lengthy recovery process but the next few years will provide data that indicate how river systems can repair themselves, if given the chance.