Tribes Use Western and Indigenous Science to Prepare for Climate Change

Northwestern tribes and the University of Washington climate group have joined forces to help protect salmon, roots, trees, and other important resources. Historically, snow from the Cascade and Blue mountains would melt slowly over months, releasing a flow of cold water that sustained salmon and other wildlife in the Columbia River. Today, there’s less snow, and the spring thaw is hitting earlier. Three years ago, those changes—exacerbated by drought and hydropower dams—culminated in a catastrophe on the Columbia’s largest tributary, the Snake River: the water temperature reached lethal levels, and just one percent of the sockeye salmon survived to spawn.