This year, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition is hosting a new webinar series: RECIPROCITY! It will focus on respecting and caring for salmon and their special relationship to the health of ecosystems, our lands and waters, and other species and people.
This spring and fall, we will spend time with experts and storytellers who share their experiences, collaborative work, and stories of reciprocity to help recover healthy and abundant salmon populations in the Columbia-Snake Rivers and the benefits they bring to the Northwest and the nation.
SOS is grateful to the Natural Encounters Conservation Fund (NECF) for their generous support of this webinar series.
RECIPROCITY: Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative
On April 17th, Sierra Club and Save Our wild Salmon co-hosted the second installment of RECIPROCITY featuring a presentation on the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative.
The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) is a groundbreaking and comprehensive plan to restore salmon and other native fish populations, ensure a clean and socially just energy future, support local economic resilience, and honor longstanding unmet commitments to Tribal Nations. It was developed by the “Six Sovereigns”, which are the four lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes—the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe—and the states of Oregon and Washington.
Presentation Featuring Representatives of the Six Sovereigns:
With Opening and Closing Remarks from:
Take Action:
In January, Sen. Jim Risch (ID) and Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-4) introduced legislation that undermines important salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin. The proposed legislation would dismantle historic progress recently achieved by Tribes and Northwest policymakers to develop and implement a comprehensive approach that recovers imperiled salmon populations with solutions that replace existing dam services, creates jobs, and invests in clean energy and modern infrastructure—ensuring a more prosperous future for communities here in the Northwest.
Please join us and ACT NOW to urge your members of Congress to oppose the Northwest Energy Security Act and to strongly support the implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative. Let’s advance solutions that recover salmon and invest in our communities, moving everyone forward together!
Resources:
- Learn more about the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative at: critfc.org/cbri
- CBRI: A New Opportunity to Restore Salmon, Honor Treaties, and Invest in the Northwest PDF
- Sierra Club: Pathway to Action: “Six Sovereigns” Comprehensive Plan PDF
RECIPROCITY: Advancing Sustainable and Just Energy AND Healthy, Abundant Salmon
The March RECIPROCITY: Advancing Sustainable and Just Energy AND Healthy, Abundant Salmon webinar covered the historical context of the Northwest energy landscape, the opportunities to address the historical harm to Tribes, salmon, and our ecosystem, while advancing clean renewable energy. Our guests spoke on the urgent need for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to choose the right energy market in order to ensure a resilient energy future for all in the Northwest.
Our guest speakers included:
- Nancy Hirsh, Executive Director & Ben Otto, Consultant from NW Energy Coalition
- Britt Freda, Creative Director of NW Artists Against Extinction
- Jess Ludwig, NextGen Salmon Collective leader
Take Action:
BPA has published a draft decision to join an energy market, Markets+, which will create significant problems for regional electric prices, decarbonization, and salmon recovery. We need your help to urge BPA and Northwest elected officials to unify the west and choose an energy market that fosters reliability and affordability for customers while also protecting our environment—including the salmon that define our Northwest way of life.
Resources:
- Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission: Tribal Energy Vision for the Columbia Basin
- NW Energy Coalition: Addressing the Lower Snake River Dams Peaking Capacity
- NW Energy Coalition: Smart planning will drive replacing the power from the lower Snake River dams
- Save Our wild Salmon: BPA must not short-circuit our region
Artwork: © Annie Brulé, Heritage Species
