Pacific Northwest Trip: The Dammed Columbia with Brodie Cass Talbott & Candace Larson *1 spot left*
On this exciting, 4-day van trip, we go beyond just birds and explore the natural and human history of the Columbia River, investigating its contentious role as a major supplier of “green energy” while also imperiling endangered fish and Indigenous fishing grounds.
We’ll start our journey heading upstream, visiting the lower four Columbia River dams over the course of the trip. In addition to learning about the dams and their impact on salmon, and people, we’ll also take some time to enjoy birding these unique habitats. The spillways of dams often create easy feeding opportunities for birds (which is great for birds and birders, but a serious challenge for migrating fish) and late fall can have large concentrations of gulls, including Bonaparte’s,
We’ll also take time to explore the several National Wildlife Refuges that were created in order to mitigate the impact of the dams, including McNary NWR and Umatilla NWR. Here, pockets of habitat should hold wintering songbirds, raptors, and increasing numbers of waterfowl.
The human history of this area is a focus of this trip, and visits to the site of Celilo Falls (which was inundated by the creation of the Dalles Dam) and the Wanapum Heritage Center will help tell the story of how these modern engineering marvels drastically changed the way of life for tribes of the Pacific Northwest, who lost treaty-guaranteed fishing grounds that were central to their culture, spirituality, and economy. A visit to Ice Harbor Dam on the lower Snake River will introduce us to the debate around removing the four lower Snake dams, in order to help prevent the total loss of salmonids from the river.
Please click below for a more detailed itinerary, and feel free to reach out to either guide to learn more about if this trip is right for you.
