Nooksack Salmon Enhancement

Jan 11, 2021

Rachel Vasak,Exec. Dir. - Part 3 of Environment

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association Overview

NSEA believes that everyone who lives near the Salish Sea should be able to see salmon in our local creeks. We all rely on salmon for food, recreation, jobs, cultural identity, and social traditions. These iconic fish are both symbolic of what we love, and a barometer of the health of Whatcom County.

NSEA has been working to engage our community in salmon recovery efforts for 30 years. Please join us to learn more about NSEA’s history, current mission and focus areas, and explore successes and challenges that we have encountered along the way.

NSEA believes in the importance of finding common ground with everyone that we work with. NSEA builds figurative and literal bridges so that we can work together to benefit healthy creeks that can support salmon runs that thrive in the face of population growth and climate change. We know that partnerships are critical to NSEA’s success. No one person or entity can do important work like this alone, but when we tackle hard problems and work together, we can accomplish great things. While there is much that needs to be done, past accomplishments give us hope that we can create a future where people, salmon and orcas all thrive in and around the Salish Sea.

Rachel Vasak, Executive Director, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA)

Rachel started volunteering for NSEA in 1996. She started as NSEA’s Executive Director in 2008. Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in geology and a Master’s in Public Administration & Nonprofit Leadership. During her time as executive director, NSEA’s work has grown. Notable achievements have included the establishment of an endowment & legacy giving program, a successful capital campaign to establish a permanent facility, and an increase in capacity to expand work with salmon recovery partners and community members. Throughout his time, NSEA has worked consistently to focus efforts to engage our community in salmon recovery through restoration, education, and stewardship.