Maura Anki, Lagunitas Deli 415 488 4844Marin County, CA– The Lagunitas Deli and Grocery and SPAWN (Salmon Protection And Watershed Network) have teamed up to provide Marin County residents and visitors with a one-stop shop to get information and resources to help protect one of the largest populations of wild coho salmon left in California. The deli, located at 7290 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in the tiny village of Lagunitas, located just outside Samuel P. Taylor State Park and on the main route to Point Reyes National Seashore, has dedicated a corner space in the store for a SPAWN information center. Marin residents and visitors on their way to beaches and open space can find information about SPAWN’s next volunteer restoration activity, pick up free SPAWN newsletters and brochures on the best places to see spawning salmon, and purchase books on the natural history of salmon and the Point Reyes Peninsula. In addition, a number of “fishy” gift items are available including t-shirts, bumper stickers, magnets and pins. Currently, the bulletin board has information on SPAWN’s next volunteer restoration work day at Roy’s Pools on the San Geronimo Golf Course to help shade the creek at this site in effort to improve creek habitat for the fish scheduled for Sunday June 1st from 9-1pm.(For more info, call SPAWN at488-0370 × 102). A featured “gift item” this month are beautiful glass enameled art pins created by Wm Spear Design of Juneau, Alaska, with current designs that include various salmon species, as well as the famous Ray Troll pirate-like “SPAWN TIL YOU DIE” design, which features a human skull with salmon serving as the crossbones. Created through an ancient process known as “champleve” (similar to cloisonné) each pin is enameled with glass by hand, with each color having been placed and fired separately. The metal is recycled copper, which has been electroplated with gold. Most designs are available as pins or zipper pulls. Maura Anki, owner of the Lagunitas Deli commented, “We’re excited about partnering with SPAWN to educate the public about the plight of the salmon that swim right past the store on their incredible spawning migration each year. They do a fantastic job of organizing the community to protect the fish through their restoration activities, public educational walks, community forums, and research activities. I especially appreciate the opportunities they provide for youth. My daughter did an internship with SPAWN when she was in high school and was totally turned on for the first time to biology and environmental studies by the experience. If this even modestly helps the organization financially, we feel doubly good about providing this service” “We love collaborating with local businesses in the watershed and offering the public another way to get the information we all need to protect the magnificent fish of the Lagunitas Watershed. And this will be an easy public display to maintain, as I regularly stop by to pick up a one of their delicious veggie sandwiches,” commented Todd Steiner, SPAWN’s director. Steiner noted that additional ways people can learn about SPAWN activities and items for sale are through their web site (*www.spawnusa.org*) and phone hotline (415 488 0370).