A well deserved article about the man many feel would be the perfect person to fill the vacancy at the Sacramento County Park’s Director position, if we would take it and relinquish the terrific work he ahs been doing for the state for so many years.
An excerpt.
King salmon
The founder of the American River Salmon Festival has spawned a decade of educational fun
By Gwen Schoen - Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:00 am PDT Thursday, October 5, 2006
The annual American River Salmon Festival is just over a week away, and Bruce Forman isn't wasting any time. He kicks up dust as he hikes down the levee trail next to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery, making notes of areas that need weeding and signs that need to be spruced up.
On the weekend of Oct. 14-15, about 25,000 visitors will attend the festival to welcome the arrival of king salmon to the hatchery.
There are banners to hang, fish statues to polish, croquet hoops to post and puzzles to assemble. Never mind the hundreds of volunteers from more than 30 sponsoring organizations already in motion -- Forman is in overdrive. With one eye on the river, watching for signs of salmon, he makes an unsuccessful attempt to power down while he talks about the festival.
"The boat rides will launch from here," he says, charging down a rocky slope toward the river. "Of course, we'll clean up this trail. And over here we'll set up the giant aquarium, and across the trail will be the croquet area."
He heads off down the levee, pausing just long enough to check on a trail sign. "Look," he says, pointing across the river, "there's a heron. He's probably waiting for a salmon, too."
Forman, a supervisor of interpretive services for the state Department of Fish and Game, is the man who dreamed up the festival and has nurtured it for 10 years, turning it into one of the area's most successful events.
"When I first got the idea, I had been to a few festivals and I was sitting here in the office looking at the river. And I thought, 'What a shame it is that more people don't know about this wonderful resource.' It seemed like we had the perfect opportunity to educate people about stewardship of the river, conservation, responsible recreation and the wildlife in the region -- if we could just get them out here."
So the salmon, which make their run up the river every fall to spawn, were really the excuse to have a river festival. The first year, about 9,000 people came to the event.
"We timed the festival to coincide with the return of the salmon. It's a phenomenal message and it's a big draw because of its sex appeal," he says with a chuckle. "You know, the fish go through this incredible journey up the river and they end up here where they come to spawn. It's very exciting.
"And besides," Forman says, "if we don't take care of the river, there won't be any salmon, so the salmon are the perfect ambassador. And kids love the big fish."
Forman loaded up the first festival with homey events such as salmon golf, storytelling, singalongs, craft booths, a giant aquarium, fishing ponds, boat rides, barbecues and puppet shows. It was great family fun.
That year, there were six other nature-oriented festivals in the state, Forman says, and today, there are more than 45 similar events.
The American River Salmon Festival charges no admission, but there is a charge for parking. That money is used as seed funding for the following year's festival, and any excess is given away as grants to programs that benefit river preservation and wildlife education.
"We've awarded about $35,000 in grant money," Forman says. "We keep track on a big fish puzzle, with each piece showing how much money we have given to various programs."
The same year that Forman organized the first Salmon Festival, he also spearheaded the Sandhill Crane Festival in Lodi.
"Well, we were already doing crane tours, and it seemed like another untapped opportunity to promote wildlife in the region," he says. "And besides, we were so busy with the salmon festival, we figured we might as well go ahead and promote the cranes at the same time."
Five years ago, Forman organized a theater company called Crane Culture Theater.
