We’re living in a once-in-a-generation moment here in the Columbia River Basin. After 60 years, Canada and the U.S. are redesigning the way we share this international watershed through a new Columbia River Treaty (click here to learn more about this). At the same time, Indigenous Nations and Tribes are leading groundbreaking work to bring salmon back to the Columbia’s upper reaches after their passage was blocked more than 80 years ago.
But funding for the visionary Bringing the Salmon Home Initiative is set to expire on March 31, 2025. Indigenous Nations are asking for help convincing the provincial and federal governments to keep this important work going.
In 2019, leaders from the federal and provincial governments and the Ktunaxa, Secwépemc, and Syilx Okanagan Nations signed a momentous agreement, committing to work together to explore the feasibility of bringing salmon back to the Canadian portion of the Columbia River.
Until the late 1930s, salmon swam all the way to the Columbia River’s headwaters in Canal Flats and up the Kootenay River into Slocan Lake, nourishing the ecological, cultural, economic, and spiritual health of the land and its people. In 1934, the U.S. sent a letter to the Ministry of Fisheries in Ottawa to ask if Canada would object to the U.S. building Grand Coulee Dam just below the Canada-U.S. border without fish passage. Without bothering to consult Indigenous Nations or other local people, the Canadian government wrote back to say their interests would not be affected as they saw no “commercial” value in Columbia River salmon.
Continuing the Bringing the Salmon Home Initiative is one small step towards righting this historic wrong. The initiative also enjoys broad support from many people — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — across our region who are excited about its potential and passionate about Truth and Reconciliation. Since 2019, the Bringing the Salmon Home team has made tremendous progress through technical, scientific, cultural, and educational efforts. In 2022, B.C. and Canada renewed their support until 2025. Tribes in the U.S. are leading parallel work south of the border and recently secured a US$200 million, 20 year commitment from the U.S. federal government. So, why stop now?
As this exciting work proceeds, we will also need to do all we can to reduce and sequester greenhouse gas emissions so that climate change doesn’t continue to threaten salmon across the Pacific Northwest with temperatures that exceed their biological limits.
Take action: The three Indigenous Nations leading the Bringing the Salmon Home Initiative are proposing a phased core funding model for a minimum of 20 years, starting with a transitional three-year minimum commitment of $1-million per year each from Canada and B.C. This will enable the initiative to continue to evolve and build capacity as a sustaining fully Indigenous-led organization. You can support this campaign by quickly sending a customizable, pre-drafted letter to provincial and federal decision makers.
