Confluence recently premiered the film “Salmon’s Agreement,” which was followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Woodrow Hunt (of Tule Films) and with Roberta Conner (Tamastslikt Cultural Institute). Many attendees asked how they can help the salmon. Here are some resources to get started.
Organizations and Websites:
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
CRITFC’s mission is “to ensure a unified voice in the overall management of the fishery resources, and as managers, to protect reserved treaty rights through the exercise of the inherent sovereign powers of the tribes.”
The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) is a natural resources management support service organization for 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington. Headquartered in Olympia, the NWIFC employs approximately 65 people with satellite offices in Burlington and Forks
State of Salmon:
This Web site documents how Washingtonians have responded to the challenges of protecting and restoring salmon and steelhead and their habitats. It summarizes both the achievements and the issues statewide and by salmon recovery region.
Find your watershed and water quality:
During the live stream, Roberta Conner answered the question of how to help by advising people to start local. Where is your watershed? How can you be the voice for salmon through that?
Oregon
Washington
California
British Columbia
Further Learning
Article: “There’s Something Fishy About These Trees.” by Anna Kusmer. KQED.org
This article dives into the connection between salmon trees. Salmon keep forest soils fertile. Due to gravity and erosion, forests continuously lose soil and nutrients to the water. Migrating salmon reverse this process by eating fish and krill at sea and bringing nutrient-rich body mass back into the forest. When bears pull hundreds of thousands salmon onto the shores of coastal rivers every year, the decomposing fish, rich in nitrogen that help trees and shrubs grow, enhance the soil.
Article: Report: Salmon in WA are ‘teetering on the brink of extinction’ The Northwest’s iconic fish are in crisis due to warming waters and habitat degradation, the recent report shows.
Washington’s State of Salmon in Watersheds report says time is running out for the Northwest’s iconic fish. The report shows a trend of warming waters and habitat degradation is causing trouble for its salmon runs. Ten of the 14 threatened or endangered salmon and steelhead runs in the state are not getting any better. Of those, five are “in crisis.”
Video: Restoring The River with the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk
For the past two centuries, California has relied heavily on the natural resources of the North Coast region, exploiting its pristine watersheds for agriculture and its forests for timber. But today, the environmental costs of timber extraction and damming have reached a tipping point. Now the Yurok are working with local and state organizations to revitalize the forests, rivers and wildlife, a comprehensive feat requiring collaboration among community leaders up and down the Klamath and Trinity Rivers.
Book: Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action by Kari Marie Norgaard. 2019
Podcast: The Orca and Salmon Connection
How are orcas connected to salmon? In this episode Debra Lekanoff (Tlingit), Klickitat Tribal Elder Wilbur Slockish, and James Holt, (Nez Perce) discuss the orcas, salmon, and waterways that bromg grace to our region and how they require committed caretakers – now more than ever
Gallery: Feast of the First Salmon
This gallery features photographs from the Feast of the First Salmon celebrations held in 1939, 1940, 1945, 1948, 1954, 1956, and 1957.
Video: Linda Meanus: Salmon ‘Was Our Survival.’
Linda Meanus (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs) talks about Tommy Thompson and the importance of salmon.