Fish and Game Volunteer Honored

Volunteers are the backbone of a variety of Fish and Game projects. For the past four years, Ken John of Salmon has donated his time, energy, knowledge and passion to volunteering on a wide variety of projects at Williams Lake. According to Regional Fisheries Manager Tom Curet, "Ken has turned his passion for fishing into action by giving his time back to the resource from which he has received so much." Ken's volunteer efforts span a variety of projects concerning water quality and the fishery at Williams Lake. He has spawned adult rainbow trout, tended their developing eggs and released the young trout into Williams Creek so they could enter the lake. Concern for the water quality at the lake led Ken to volunteer to monitor dissolved oxygen levels and temperatures in the lake. He has also assisted in taking water chemistry samples and monitored the lake level. During this past year, Ken also measured the inlet and outflows at the lake. While Williams Lake is Ken's primary focus, he also volunteers for other Fish and Game projects. He has helped with the capture and radio collaring of mule deer fawns as well as with the steelhead spawning efforts at the Pahsimeroi Hatchery. Ken has also volunteered his time to work at the steelhead check stations that are operated during the spring and fall steelhead seasons. But perhaps one of Ken's favorite volunteer assignments has been to collect fish samples for analysis by spending the day fishing-- not a bad way to spend your volunteer hours! At a special staff meeting held on February 24th, Ken was honored by the Salmon region Fish and Game staff. He received a gift certificate from Cabela's. Many thanks to Ken for all his hard work!