Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Salmon are essential to Columbia River tribal people. These fish represent not only a food source but a way of life. As a white kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Tony Schick heard a lot about salmon — how important they are to this region, and how much trouble they’re in now. But the history he learned was not the whole story. As an investigative reporter for OPB and ProPublica, he’s been working to uncover and understand a more sinister version of events. And along the way, he connected with a guy named Randy Settler and his family.

“Salmon Wars,” a production from OPB and ProPublica, tells the story of salmon in the Northwest in a way you haven’t heard before – through the voices of one Yakama Nation family  who have been fighting for salmon for generations. We’ll dive into hidden history. We’ll investigate who’s to blame for the salmon vanishing, and what can be done before it’s too late. 

 

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

Timber Wars Season 2: Salmon Wars

From Oregon Public Broadcasting

Salmon are essential to Columbia River tribal people. These fish represent not only a food source but a way of life. As a white kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Tony Schick heard a lot about salmon — how important they are to this region, and how much trouble they’re in now. But the history he learned was not the whole story. As an investigative reporter for OPB and ProPublica, he’s been working to uncover and understand a more sinister version of events. And along the way, he connected with a guy named Randy Settler and his family.

“Salmon Wars,” a production from OPB and ProPublica, tells the story of salmon in the Northwest in a way you haven’t heard before – through the voices of one Yakama Nation family  who have been fighting for salmon for generations. We’ll dive into hidden history. We’ll investigate who’s to blame for the salmon vanishing, and what can be done before it’s too late. 

 

Most Recent Episodes

Bonus Episode: Celilo Memories

We hear the voices of tribal elders who remember Celilo Falls before The Dalles Dam silenced this sacred fishing spot. Many of the voices you hear in this episode were shared, with permission, by Confluence. Confluence is a nonprofit focused on the Columbia River system. The organization has collected oral histories from Native people, many of whom remember Celilo Falls before the dam.

Bonus Episode: Celilo Memories

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Ep 6: The Future

Salmon hatcheries set up by the federal government prioritized ocean fishermen over river tribes and created genetically inferior fish. In this final episode, we visit a tribal hatchery to see how they’re doing things differently. And we’ll hear from 11-year-old Aiyana about how she thinks about carrying on her family’s legacy.

Ep 6: The Future

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Ep 5: The Crime

Salmon have been on the decline for more than 100 years. The federal government knows why. It knows who killed the salmon. And how. But for decades it’s been telling a tale of progress, and obscuring the ugliest truth. We’re going to uncover it.  

Ep 5: The Crime

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Ep 4: The Salmon’s Struggle

Salmon used to be plentiful and they’ve been a staple of tribal diets for centuries. Since the early 1900s, salmon populations in the Columbia River have steadily declined thanks to overfishing, dams, habitat loss and warming waters. Hatcheries are one way the U.S. government has tried to make up for the loss of wild salmon. But it hasn’t worked. In this episode, we examine what the decline of salmon has meant for Columbia River tribes.

Ep 4: The Salmon’s Struggle

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Bonus Episode: LiaDonna Lopez Whitefoot

You heard from Randy Settler’s cousin, LiaDonna Lopez Whitefoot, in the most recent episode of Salmon Wars. She’s the one who was fearless in the face of a blockade of boats trying to block Native people from accessing fishing sites. She worked closely with Randy’s mom in the family fishing business. In this bonus episode, we’re bringing you more of her memories from that time, and of Randy’s mom, Mary, in particular.

Bonus Episode: LiaDonna Lopez Whitefoot

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Ep 3: The Court Battles

Federal officials took away a way of life that had sustained Pacific Northwest tribes for centuries. So some tribal members became outlaws. During the 1960s and beyond, Native activists fought back against state and federal restrictions on their fishing rights – a period known as the “fish wars”. They held “fish ins” and fought for their rights in court. Randy Settler's parents won some major battles in the fish wars, but their methods were controversial even within their tribe. 

Ep 3: The Court Battles

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Ep 2: The Treaties

To understand the war over salmon, we have to go back to 1855. That’s when chiefs from the Yakama Nation and other Pacific Northwest tribes signed treaties that are still used as the basis for laws and policies around salmon fishing. Some tribal members believe the Yakama signed a treaty under duress. In some ways, this document represents the first of a multi-generational series of promises the U.S. government made and broke. It also created a powerful legal framework the Yakama still use to advocate for fishing rights.

Ep 2: The Treaties

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Ep 1: The Family

Host Tony Schick introduces us to Randy Settler and his family. The Settlers, members of the Yakama Nation, have been deeply affected by the Northwest’s salmon policies for generations. They lost their home, their primary food source, their ancestral fishing grounds. Randy and his parents went to jail for exercising their fishing rights. And they won some important victories along the way. Now, he’s passing the fight on to younger people in the tribe.

Ep 1: The Family

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Season 2: Salmon Wars ... coming soon

 “Salmon Wars” tells the story of salmon in the Northwest in a way you haven’t heard before – through the voices of one Yakama Nation family who have been fighting for salmon for generations. We dig in to uncover who is to blame for the salmon vanishing, what can be done before it’s too late and why their disappearance impacts all of us ... coming soon.

Season 2: Salmon Wars ... coming soon

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Bonus Ep: Suzanne Simard and the Social World of Trees

What if, instead of competing with each other, trees work together? What if they even communicate? Renowned forest ecologist Suzanne Simard has spent her life digging into the "wood wide web"—the mycorrhizal network of fungi and roots through which trees share resources and information. Her work has transformed the way we understand forests and inspired everything from the Tree of Souls in "Avatar" to the scientist character in "The Overstory."

Bonus Ep: Suzanne Simard and the Social World of Trees

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