Braided River September News: Celebrate Salmon, Cedar, Rock & Rain, fall events, and take action to protect the Western Arctic

This blog is based on an essay from the book On Arctic Ground: Tracking Time through Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. The Western Arctic, also known as the NPR-A (National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska), is a fragile Arctic region, home to Indigenous communities and bountiful wildlife including caribou, fish and migratory birds, and is a critical carbon sink to help fight climate change. The Colville River is one of five designated Special Areas in the Western Arctic. Learn more about Special Areas in the Arctic here. 

In these confounding times, we are taking strength in the power of local action. 

Ubaldo Hernandez moved to the Gorge in the mid-1990s from Mexico City. As founder and director of Comunidades, an organization he created to amplify Latino voices for environmental and social justice, Ubaldo works to build diverse communities of river protectors in the basin. In this blog, learn about the launch of BIG RIVER: RESILIENCE AND RENEWAL IN THE COLUMBIA BASIN, an update on the recent Columbia River Treaty regotiation process, and recent book awards.

This blog is based on an excerpt from the book On Arctic Ground: Tracking Time through Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, from an essay “Voices from the Land– Ancient Echoes on the Utukok,” by Alaskan writer, cultural anthropologist, and radio engineer Richard Nelson who spent much of his life in the Alaskan Arctic. The Utukok River Uplands, meaning “old” or “ancient” in Iñupiaq, is one of five designated Special Areas in America’s Western Arctic. It is home to large populations of moose, wolves, and wolverines but is most well known for its high grizzly bear concentrations and the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. The biodiversity of the Utukok River Uplands is greatly threatened by climate change. 

“Our elders told us that the reason we live here right by the river is to take care of her," says Lewis George, a Yakima fisherman who lives near the Dalles, OR—one of the many river protectors featured in Braided River's new June 1st book, Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin.

"We have to stay here by the river to protect her. Someone always has to be here—right by the river.”

There are so many people like Lewis George, who live within the Columbia River basin and work to take care of their corner of the watershed. As we prepare to launch Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin, it is humbling to see the powerful connections that people have to the river. We hope you'll join us at one of our many events across the watershed featuring storytelling from many of these river protectors. 

We are thrilled about the upcoming release of Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin, on June 1, 2024! This book contains breathtaking works by wildlife photographer and biologist David Moskowitz and narratives by Eileen Delehanty Pearkes that are sure to take you on a visual ride through the Columbia Watershed. 

“A thought-provoking and visually stunning portrait of an embattled paradise.” —Kirkus Reviews

We have seen historic headlines recently regarding the Arctic project! On Friday, April 19th, the Biden Administration announced that they are establishing new protections for +13 million acres of America's Western Arctic. This news is being applauded by Native communities in the Arctic and is a significant leap forward on climate and conservation and the protection of sacred land. It's also a land protection win in a place that Braided River has been working to protect since our inception.