If you haven’t listened to Wide Open, an audio series about the 1973 US Endangered Species Act by Montana journalist Nick Mott, it’s worth a listen. His episode about the Tennessee Valley Authority and the small fish that almost stopped a dam being completed made me think of the Columbia River salmon populations. Before dams, […]
Columbia River
The path of Mt. Rainier’s Snow
Touring Big River since June 1 has brought me into the sights of Mt. Rainier. On clear days, this pinnacle rises high above the Seattle skyline and busy port. I’ve been lucky enough to see it often during my time here. Most of the snow on Mt. Rainier descends to the ocean. The snow on […]
Two Worlds, One Heart
Since my personal move to California during the pandemic, I’ve spent less time in the upper Columbia River region that formed and shaped my writing, but I have not stopped thinking and writing about it. Last year, Rocky Mountain Books released a new edition of The Geography of Memory, and next year they will provide […]
Swimming with the Salmon
I recently followed the Salmon Spirit to the upper Columbia River region, my literary homeland. The first time I felt that spirit’s power was in 2019, when I attended a tribal ceremony marking the release of several dozen ocean Chinook into Lake Roosevelt Reservoir. With the 500+ foot Grand Coulee Dam blocking their ancient pathway, […]
Salmon River Dreams
In June, I explored the Snake River system of central and southern Idaho for an upcoming book with Braided River Press. The 2024 book will also feature the beautiful photography of David Moskowitz, which you can see here. The Salmon and its cousin the Clearwater are tributaries to the great Snake, a waterway nearly as […]
Lighting a Flame
In April, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that the Sinixt/Arrow Lakes tribe are Aboriginal People of Canada. It was the end of a long legal road travelled by this transboundary tribe, to reverse a 1956 Canadian government declaration that they were “extinct.” The word “extinct” descends through English from the Latin word extinctus, […]