2022 | A Year in Review

As we close the year on another winter solstice, we look back and reflect on the growth we have undergone at the Trust. This year has been a busy one for our Team, who is focused on bringing this important project to life, while carrying forward the tenant of Inter-Tribal collaboration that lives at the heart of all of our work.

In late spring we continued our educational programming in partnership with Friends of Tryon Creek and Portland State University by facilitating presentations on the cultural landscape of the Willamette Falls region to a cohort from the Hatfield School of Government that included DEI experts, state agency leaders, professionals in the conservation field, foundation representatives, and Tribal leaders.

These types of programs are critical in contextualizing the significance of the Falls to Tribes, the importance of cross-cultural learning for government agencies, how Tribal sovereignty and co-management can advance climate action, and the resulting positive outcomes when Tribes are involved in public projects from their inception. We stand by these learnings and employ these understandings across all of our work.

As summer came to a close we celebrated the passage into autumn with salmon and lamprey, which are First Foods for many Tribes, at Meldrum Bar Park in Gladstone, hosted by our partners the Yakama Nation and Warm Springs Tribes. Tribal fishing families caught close to 800 lamprey from Willamette Falls for the feast which was open to the public, and celebrated the long-held responsibility Northwest Tribes maintain to protect the species that sustain us, and the and the waterways they inhabit.

Lamprey are a sacred First Food, and a critical species that is indicative of  the health of our waterways and the environment. All people rely on this balance. Today, there has never been such a need for this level of Tribal wisdom and knowledge in the fight to protect this resource.

This fall we were honored to attend the 10 Year Anniversary of the Condit Dam removal, hosted by the Yakama Nation in Husum, Washington. The event marked a decade of restored fish passage for salmon, steelhead, and Pacific lamprey along the now free-flowing White Salmon River. We also honor the powerful leadership of the Yakama Nation and partner organizations who were instrumental in the decision to breach the Dam. Make sure to follow the Yakama Nation and Yakama Nation Fisheries to attend similar events in the future!

In closing, the solstice is an important time in the natural cycle of the earth. We move from the longest night, into the ever increasing light of a new year. We look forward to sharing updates with you in 2023.

Our plans for a public access project are moving forward, led by the Tribes with ties to the Falls. The Willamette Falls Trust represents a powerful collaboration between Native and non-Native communities in the region. Together, with you, we will transform an industrial area that has been largely hidden from public view into an accessible and restored natural area, where people, fish, and wildlife thrive.