SAVE OUR WILD SALMON COALITION
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Mission Statement
Save Our wild Salmon (SOS) is a coalition of over 50 Northwest and national conservation organizations, commercial and sportfishing associations, businesses, clean energy and orca advocates, and river groups. Our mission is to protect and restore self-sustaining, abundant, and harvestable populations of salmon and steelhead to the waters of the Pacific Salmon states for the benefit of freshwater and marine ecosystems, and Northwest communities and ways of life. SOS achieves our mission by advocating for the needs of native fish and their waters, and by educating, inspiring, and mobilizing the public to act on behalf of salmon and orcas. SOS also works closely with and supports the leadership of Northwest Tribes and Indigenous-led organizations in calling on the federal government to restore salmon and honor our nation’s long-standing tribal treaty responsibilities.
About This Cause
The Save Our wild Salmon Coalition has worked for more thirty years to protect and restore imperiled salmon and steelhead populations in what was once the world’s most productive salmon landscape: the Columbia-Snake River Basin. Our legal, outreach and policy activities focus on restoring health and salmon connectivity to rivers across the basin in order to provide wild salmon and steelhead the conditions they need to recover. Habitat destruction from the construction and operation of dams is the primary cause for salmon extinction and endangerment in the basin. In 1991, Snake River sockeye became the nation’s first salmon stock to receive protection of the Endangered Species Act. Today, thirteen basin populations are listed under the ESA. Restoring abundant salmon and steelhead stocks will reverse profound harms to our region’s ecology, economy, and culture caused by their decline. Salmon are a keystone species that deliver important marine-derived energy and nutrients to this freshwater ecosystem. More than 130 species in the Northwest eat or otherwise benefit from the presence of salmon. Evidence of salmon has been detected across this landscape, often far from the rivers they use. Recent research also confirms the importance of Columbia Basin chinook for sustaining endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. Southern Resident orcas frequent the Puget Sound and our state’s coastal waters. Lack of adequate prey – chinook salmon - is a main reason for their decline. The mouth of the Columbia River is an historic and current hunting ground for these orcas and the Columbia Basin represents our best opportunity today for rebuilding the significant numbers of chinook that orca survival depends upon. Loss of salmon harms tribal and non-tribal communities too. Even in their depressed condition, Columbia Basin salmon support thousands of jobs in scores of communities across the Northwest. Restoring the Snake River and its salmon will help restore orcas, honor our tribal treaty obligations, and revitalize our fishing and recreation-based economies. Save Our wild Salmon's coordinated legal, advocacy, and policy work to date has helped salmon by improving river conditions (e.g. court-ordered spill) and securing one of the largest habitat restoration programs in the nation. SOS's current programs include: Restoring the Lower Snake River: SOS leads a powerful campaign focused on removing four deadly dams to restore a freely flowing lower Snake River and recover imperiled salmon populations, for the benefit of Northwest communities and ecosystems. Protecting Orcas by Restoring Salmon: SOS works closely with orca advocates, orca-based businesses, and scientists to protect and restore the main prey base – chinook salmon – that Southern Resident Killer Whales depend upon to survive and thrive. Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty: SOS plays a leadership role coordinating the U.S. NGO Caucus to build public awareness and mobilize support for modernizing this 60-year-old international treaty, with a focus on making the ‘health of the river’ a new primary purpose and elevating tribal voices in its implementation. Tackling the Climate Challenge: Salmon need a healthy climate and resilient habitats, and SOS is working with partners and experts to advance and implement solutions to protect and restore wild salmon and steelhead that are consistent with larger regional efforts to significantly reduce carbon emissions and invest in clean, renewable, and affordable energy resources. Northwest Artists Against Extinction (NWAAE): Art can offer a deeper invitation into the intersections of science, history, policy, and culture through the use of aesthetic visuals and narratives. SOS and NWAAE are forging a creative collaboration between artists and advocates to build public support and political leadership to restore the lower Snake River and its imperiled wild salmon and steelhead. If you have questions or would like further information, please contact: Joseph Bogaard, Executive Director joseph@wildsalmon.org 206-300-1003