Welcome to the "Love Your Columbia Community"
Check out our summer virtual event series featuring our incredible environmental lawyers, community organizers, scientists, and partners who work every day to protect the Columbia. Get inspired to fight for clean water and our climate.
Think you know conservation? Get the bigger picture. Join Columbia Riverkeeper Communications Coordinator Karina Sahlin and award-winning author Michelle Nijhuis for an intimate discussion on the history of modern conservation, from the early battles to save “fuzzy mammals” to the current fight to shift global priorities from extinction to abundance.
The City of Portland can stop a massive oil-by-rail terminal: Zenith Energy. The State of Oregon can, too. But will they? Community Organizer Kate Murphy leads a panel discussion with Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Policy Analyst Julie Carter and Columbia Riverkeeper Staff Attorney Erin Saylor. Julie and Erin will cover the oil industry's dismal year, how Tribes and Columbia River communities stopped the nation's largest oil-by-rail terminal in 2018, and why Zenith Energy took root in Portland. You'll walk away inspired to convince decisionmakers to stop Zenith’s fossil fuel hub.
Rye Development proposes the Northwest’s largest pumped storage hydroelectric development along the banks of the Columbia River near the John Day Dam, threatening to destroy tribal cultural resources for speculative energy return. Join Columbia Riverkeeper Staff Attorney Simone Anter as we talk to Elaine Harvey, Kah-milt-pa Band Member and Traditional Food Gatherer, Chairman Takala of the Yakama Nation, and others impacted by this misguided, socially unjust development.
Learn how the Biden administration could end decades of cleanup delay at one of the most toxic sites on the Columbia River: Bradford Island and surrounding waters. Yakama Nation science and policy experts, Davis Washines and Laura Shira, join Columbia Riverkeeper Legal and Program Director, Lauren Goldberg, for a deep dive into the U.S. government’s forgotten toxic waste dump near Bonneville Dam.
Speakers include: Dr. Sammy Matsaw, member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes, Research Biologist, and Co-founder of River Newe; Columbia Riverkeeper’s Executive Director, Brett VandenHeuvel; Natural Resources Defense Council’s Senior Attorney, Giulia Good Stefani; and Defenders of Wildlife’s Northwest Representative, Robb Krehbiel. Get up to speed on how people are coming together with new approaches to protect the Northwest’s iconic salmon, including a groundbreaking plan from Representative Mike Simpson.
Columbia Riverkeeper Senior Organizer, Ubaldo Hernández, hosts panel discussion with Lisa Muñoz, Program Director of Comunidades, Ana Molina from Beyond Toxics, and Dominica Navarro from Northwest Alternatives to Pesticides. Hear perspectives on the environmental advocacy movement and discuss how their organization’s are working to prevent pollution and protect people’s health.
Dr. Arlene Blum, Executive Director with the Green Science Policy Institute, shares about the harmful chemicals found in household items, how they end up in the river, their impacts, and what you can do.
Claudia Castro Luna hosts a kid-friendly poetry workshop in Spanish focusing on themes around the environment and river ecosystems.
Learn the latest on fracked gas and oil development proposals along the Columbia—and how we’re fighting to protect the river and our climate.
Once a week for eight weeks, check out our Youtube page or social media for new video releases highlighting the untold stories of grit and passion—and success
The deputy director of Coalition of Communities of Color, shares the historic effort to pass the Portland Clean Energy Fund ballot initiative.
Retired librarian and tireless Columbia Riverkeeper volunteer shares stories of how communities stopped multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas terminals and pipelines.
Natalie Swan (Yakama) pays tribute to her uncle and mentor, Atwai Dr. Russel Jim, who created a legacy fighting for Hanford cleanup, abundant salmon, and tribal and cultural sovereignty.
Columbia Riverkeeper's Dan Serres' behind the scene tales of the coal industry’s attempt to site North America’s largest coal export terminal along the Columbia’s shores will make your blood boil.
Arlene Burns, mayor of the City of Mosier, OR! She recalls the catastrophe of an oil-train derailment and explosion that thrust her and the small town of Mosier into the national spotlight, and what helped activists rally to defeat a proposal to build the nation's largest oil-by-rail terminal along the Columbia.
Kat Brigham, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Chair Brigham reflects on the decades-long fight for tribal fishing rights on the Columbia, the successful campaign to convince Oregon to adopt the nation’s most protective water pollution limits, and a lifetime breaking barriers for Indigenous people and women.
Our heroes video series rounds out with two from Columbia Rivekeeper's amazing community engagement team: Ubaldo Hernández & Lorri Epstein. Tune in for a conversation about the power of access, equity, and community ownership in transforming Nichols Natural Area from a contaminated brownfield into a lush, riparian habitat where fish, wildlife, plants, and humans can all thrive.
We were joined by Claudia Castro Luna (author) and Tyrone Thompson Ross (Wyampum Nez Perce) for poetry readings and conversations to celebrate a special book release
We recently hosted a roundtable discussion about the frightening consequences that delayed cleanup could have at one of Hanford’s most high-risk facilities that houses one-third of all radioactivity
Learn from attorneys on the frontlines of litigation challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle laws that protect clean air and water
An inspiring conversation with two Native American civic leaders, Cathy Sampson-Kruse and Emily Washines, as they shared images and events that influenced their lives.
Columbia Riverkeeper's Senior Attorney Miles Johnson shares a recap from the "Removing Lower Snake River Dams to Protect Salmon and Orcas" virtual presentation.
Tune in for conversations with our two community organizers, Kate and Ubaldo, as they dig deep about "How to Protect Doing What You Love During COVID-19."
Tune in to Conoce tu Columbia, Riverkeeper’s bilingual Spanish-language radio show. Through inspiring interviews, music, and commentary, the program shares stories of people who protect our health and water from pollution. Listen live from 7 - 8 pm on Radio Tierra 95.1 FM Hood River or find archived episodes below.
Share your insights and love of the Columbia River in the "Love Your Columbia Community" Facebook group.