274. Big River: Resilience & Renewal in the Columbia Basin

Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Here in Washington State, we are surrounded by a vast landscape of natural resources. When you are enjoying the outdoors, do you ever wonder about the state of these resources or the role that we play in their preservation?

Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin is a new book-in-progress and visual storytelling campaign exploring the Columbia River system and its expansive watershed, from sea to source. The project seeks to explore the river’s complexities and illuminate its beauty geologically, ecologically, and culturally. It also explores the current challenges and the people and communities seeking solutions and sustainability.

The book includes the work of award-winning wildlife and outdoor photographer David Moskowitz, landscape and history author Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, former Seattle Civic Poet and Washington Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, and contributions from members of the various communities and cultures whose lives are touched by this river, such as Indigenous tribes across the watershed who have called for new management strategies to establish better outcomes now and secure the river for future generations.

The future is uncertain, but Big River hopes to serve as both an educational and inspirational resource to support the ongoing efforts of conservation organizations to push for sound management of this important body of water.

This event is part of a series of international book events celebrating the book launch of Big River, and is cohosted by Save Our Wild Salmon, a diverse, nationwide coalition working together to restore wild salmon and steelhead to the rivers, streams, and marine waters of the Pacific Northwest. Big River explores the Columbia River watershed as one living, interdependent entity that embraces a broad cultural and ecological perspective

Photographer, author, wildlife biologist, and tracker David Moskowitz is the author of Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon, and coauthor of Peterson’s Field Guide to North American Bird Nests. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Sierra, High Country News, and Audubon Magazine, as well as by organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Endangered Species Coalition, and Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Eileen Delehanty Pearkes explores landscape, history, and the human imagination through writing, maps, and visual notebooks, focusing on Indigenous culture and the power of water. She has researched the international Columbia River basin for more than two decades. Pearkes is the author of The Geography of Memory, A River Captured: The Columbia River and Catastrophic Change, and The Heart of a River.

Claudia Castro Luna served as Washington State Poet Laureate for several years. She is the author of Cipota Under the Moon, One River, A Thousand Voices, and There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love, among others. Born in El Salvador, Castro Luna arrived in the US in 1981. Living in English and Spanish, she teaches and writes in Seattle.

Cindy Marchand is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes (Sinixt/Lakes Band). She serves as secretary of the executive committee, chair of the fisheries committee and vice-chair of the natural resources committee. She works extensively on environmental issues in the United States and Canada, serves as the Eastern Representative of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Tribal Operations Committee and Commissioner for the Upper Columbia United Tribes.

Buy the Book Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin

The Elliott Bay Book Company