guest column by Jonathan Smith, Warm Springs Tribal Council representative and CRITFC commissioner
Jonathan Smith below Pelton Dam on the Deschutes River running through the Warm Springs Reservation. ▣ J FiveCrows/CRITFC
On the Columbia River, our ancestors taught us that the strength of the people is tied to the strength of the salmon. Today, that truth has not changed, but the challenges around us have grown more complex.
Comprehensive fish management planning isn’t just a technical exercise. It is a fulfillment of our responsibility to protect the ecosystem that sustains us, a responsibility written into our laws, our treaties, and our identity. Our Tribal Constitution calls on us “to safeguard Indian property and resources for the use of present and future generations” . That promise guides our work every day.
A healthy fishery requires a healthy river system. That means protecting water quality, restoring habitats, and keeping our ecosystems resilient in a time of rapid change. It means harvest regulations that honor both cultural obligation and biological reality. And it means ensuring that salmon can move freely up and down the river, with fish passage improvements throughout the hydropower system.
We also know that modernized fish production has a role to play when it is guided by science, culture, and the teachings of the river. When done right, production supports natural-origin recovery, strengthens weak runs, and keeps our foods returning to the people.
But perhaps the most important truth is this: We cannot do this work alone.
Years of experience have taught us that the challenges facing salmon are basin-wide, cross-jurisdictional, and deeply interconnected. Effective solutions must be just as comprehensive. Federal, state, and tribal governments, together with utility partners, local communities, and regional organizations, must row in the same direction if we want to restore a thriving, self-sustaining fishery.
Collaboration is not a sign of weakness. It is a recognition that the river binds us together, and that the future we seek, abundant salmon, strong communities, and a healthy Columbia Basin, can only be achieved through coordinated, visionary teamwork.
When we plan together, act together, and honor the teachings of the river together, we move closer to a future where salmon once again return in strength, as they were promised to our people and to this land.
