Photo: Fishing for salmon on the Columbia River with Mount Hood looking on. Photo courtesy Drew Winterer.

"there was great joy with the natives last night in consequence of the arrival of the Salmon; one of those fish was caught; this was the harbinger of good news to them. They informed us that these fish would arrive in great quantities in the course of about 5 days. this fish was dressed and being divided into small peices was given to each child in the village. this custom is founded in a supersticious opinion that it will hasten the arrival of the Salmon." -- Meriwether Lewis, April 19, 1806 The salmon of the Pacific Northwest played a major role in the Expedition's crossing of the Rocky Mountains. The Corps chose to leave the Bitterroot River and cross over Lolo Pass because no salmon swam in the Bitterroot (see the "Bitterroot River" section for the explanation). After the Corps of Discovery crossed Lolo Pass, they subsisted almost entirely on dried salmon, which they bartered from the tribes along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Conservation Update The wild salmon and steelhead in the Northwest -- the same big fish that were abundant when the Nez Perce fed them to the near starving Lewis and Clark expedition as they stumbled out of the Northern Rockies -- are now in a fight for their own lives. While they once produced more salmon than any river system on earth, rivers in the Columbia and Snake basins have been degraded by 29 federal dams and hundreds of non-federal dams, and they are no longer "crouded with salmon," as Lewis and Clark wrote. At the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition, approximately 16 million wild salmon returned to the Columbia River system every year. Now, only 1 percent of that amount is supported in the rivers. The Sierra Club aims to restore wild salmon and steelhead to harvestable numbers by: Protecting the Lower Columbia River estuary and wetland habitats from proposed river dredging projects and from urban sprawl that would damage salmon habitat; Accelerating the purchase of sensitive and scenic lands in the Columbia River Gorge by using the Land and Water Conservation Fund; Improving water quality and river flows and increasing spill at federal dams; Passing the Salmon Planning Act legislation in Congress that will study the options for saving wild salmon, including the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams, which scientists say must be a part of any comprehensive plan to recover wild salmon and steelhead. Working to fully fund and implement the Northwest's Final Plan for Recovering Salmon; Protecting the tributaries of these rivers where important spawning grounds for salmon exist; passing legislation in Congress that will study the options for saving wild salmon, including the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams, which scientists say must be a part of any comprehensive plan to recover wild salmon and steelhead. Who to contact: Paul Shively Portland, Oregon Sierra Club Office E-mail: paul.shively@sierraclub.org 2950 SE Stark St, Ste. 100 Portland, OR 97214-3082 P: 503-243-6656 / F: 503-243-2416 Find out more: Protecting the Salmon Columbia River Estuary Columbia River Gorge