Every generation in Rob Woeck’s family shares fishing memories of the Pacific Northwest. The Washington State Department of Transportation employee said his family put down their initial roots in the Washington Territory during the 1880s. They grew up fishing commercially and recreationally, he grew up fishing and each generation in between did as well.

It’s a part of their identity as much as fishing is part of the overall PNW identity, and even more so for local tribes over thousands of years.

“I can’t imagine a situation where my grandkids don’t know what it’s like to see Chum salmon spawning in front of them,” Woeck said. “And if we don’t follow through, then that will be the case.”

He visited with Gov. Jay Inslee Wednesday at Edgecomb Creek in Arlington, a recent Washington success story for fish passage restoration. Finished in 2018, the relatively small creek now runs through peoples’ backyards. Woeck, environmental program manager for I-405, said it’s so small that people could step over it in places or maybe not even notice the newly built ecosystem. But this creek saw more than 80 spawning Coho salmon in the stream last year — and Woeck is sure that even more swam through.

Read the rest of the story on the governor's Medium page.