Magic Canoe

Read the article, originally featured in @highcountrynews.org, to learn more about recent land returns happening in Salmon Nation and in other parts of the U.S.

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California has helped fund other land returns, too, including nearly 900 acres bordering Yosemite National Park that were returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Tribe in December. In October, the Tule River Indian Tribe reclaimed 17,030 acres in the Central Valley.

Ancestral lands are being returned to tribes.

Last summer, 14,000 acres encompassing the Blue Creek watershed in northern California were returned to the Yurok tribe. This transfer was the largest tribal land return in the state’s history.

High Country News
The Yurok Tribe

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If you’ve been wondering how to better support your bioregion's continued flourishing, our stories will show you the possibilities.

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Power outages are becoming a regular problem on the Colville Reservation in Washington.

Colville Tribes hope to eventually become self-sufficient and use only power generated on their homelands.

Read the article from @underscore-news.bsky.social to learn more: buff.ly/mDkll8q

New Voices, Same Fights Join us on February 25 at 7 p.m. in Vancouver for an engaging evening with the newest voices in the Wilderness Committee campaign team.

Join us for a fun, engaging evening with the newest voices on our campaign team as they talk climate, conservation, forests and how they connect their work to the moment we’re in.

🕖️ Wednesday, February 25 | 7:00 P.M.
📍Heritage Hall, #Vancouver

Last year was an uphill battle for wild salmon conservation.

The 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program is one of the few remaining tools left to protect salmon, uphold Tribal treaty rights, and hold the Bonneville Power Administration accountable.

Sign the petition: buff.ly/56D1iIB

In December 2023, we partnered with @thetyee.ca, an award-winning independent online publication based in Vancouver, B.C., to produce a regular, solutions-driven series called “What Works.”

Take a look at the most-read stories of the series: buff.ly/zdbSZhU

#Storytelling
#EnvironmentalSolutions

Read the article from the Revelator to learn how budget cuts are impacting the invaluable salmon restoration project on the Olympic Peninsula.

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#HabitatRestoration
#SalmonConservation
#OlympicPeninsula

However, budget cuts continue to undermine salmon restoration. In 2025, Olympic Park’s fisheries team was cut to five employees. Now, at the beginning of 2026, only one staff member, an intern, remains, due to budget cuts.

Over a hundred years later, advocacy by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and conservation groups led to the removal of two dams that had been blocking salmon's access to 90% of the river. Since then, the Olympic Peninsula has been regaining status as a salmon hotspot.

For centuries the Elwha River on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula supported some of the West Coast’s most impressive salmon runs.

Watch this exciting new trailer for the upcoming film, “Running Wild: Return to the River,”
Narrated by Liam Neeson and produced in partnership with the Wild Salmon Center, this IMAX film will be released this spring.

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#Ecosystems
#PacificSalmon
#WildlifeConservation

Oregon is facing a record-breaking snow drought.

If conditions don’t change soon, Oregon cities, aquatic wildlife, and wildfire season could all face challenges.

Read the full article from @opb.org to learn why scientists believe the snow drought is happening: buff.ly/BHi7gnk

#MtHoodOregon

Magic Canoe Sign-up Landing - Magic Canoe Join the Bioregional Movement Magic Canoe aims to tell stories of transformation and belonging, giving shape for what it means to live and flourish in Salmon

Head over to our website to sign up for our bi-monthly newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox. Your mind will thank you for the regular dose of inspiration.

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#EquitableFuture
#Storytelling
#Changemaker

Magic Canoe has the stories to help you envision an equitable future. We share stories from changemakers who are putting their innovative and radical ideas into action. They're testing, thinking, playing, and creating to see what sticks. They’re showing us new ways to live in harmony with nature.

The reality is, we can dream of a better future all we want. But what actually transforms dreams into reality? Transformation happens when you know, concretely, what you're building toward.

With public lands consistently under threat, these days, a lot of people are:
- Overwhelmed
- Exhausted
- Confused about where to spend their energy

Mel Lehan wanted to bring a stream back to life again.

Tatlow Creek, had been buried near his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the past thirty years. But a couple of summers ago, Vancouver’s park board restored it.

Read the full article to learn more: buff.ly/wvS2i42

How are orca populations in the Salish Sea faring? We invite you to watch the short film “All Our Relations: Tribute to the Orca” to find out.

Indigenous communities' ancient kinship with orcas and salmon is essential to survival of these creatures.

Watch the film: buff.ly/0AS7rZI

The wildest national forest in the U.S. may soon lose its protections.

The Trump Administration wants to rescind the federal Roadless Rule in order to open some 9 million roadless acres of the Tongass to logging.

Read more: buff.ly/c79Kktu

Via @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social

Care about the future of our world?

Turtle Island Bioregional Congress will focus on "bioregional coordinated action to increase community resiliency, Indigenous leadership, local self-governance, climate action, ecological regeneration," and more.

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In the Columbia River Basin, the lesser-known Pacific lamprey has slipped through the cracks of conservation efforts.

Watch the short film, "The Lost Fish," to learn how members of four tribes have taken the management of Pacific lamprey into their own hands. buff.ly/FeFKPL5

@critfc.bsky.social

In the heart of the Alaskan wilderness, a centuries-old canoe, abandoned by its makers, remains a profound symbol of craftsmanship and heritage.

Carvers across Alaska now have access to precise measurements and details to help revive this ancient craft.

Read more: buff.ly/8sphIMK

A Vancouver B.C. company found that a rootlike structure from mushrooms is a great meat substitute.

Mycelium-based proteins are more efficient and significantly less carbon-intensive to produce.

Watch the video from to learn more about Maia Farms' mushroom-based meat substitute: buff.ly/CBJM6tb

If you’re looking for solutions, rather than cynicism, in a world that can feel dark, our stories will light your path forward.

Support our continued work by signing up for our newsletter. Simply tap the link to sign up to receive the latest stories germinating in the bioregion: buff.ly/uZiqAQ5

Jacqueline Jennings’ Fireweed Institute, based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, is reversing the impacts of colonization.

The Fireweed Institute is an Indigenous-led nonprofit that helps Indigenous entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Read the interview: buff.ly/D7U2Ldt

#MagicCanoe
#SalmonNation

Water is our kin.

Water is our guide.

According to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s 2025 book, "The Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead," water can even show us how to maneuver past the constraints of capitalism and colonial frameworks of living.

Learn more: buff.ly/Ytjee3V

Check out these films:

“Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages” – FRONTLINE
“First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath” – OPB
“Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience” – OPB
“Covenant of the Salmon People” – KBTC Public Television
“The Beautiful Undammed” – Wild Hope

A Spokane school is reviving an ancestral language to build a community of n̓səl̓xčin̓ speakers.

Read the article on our website to learn more about how the Salish School of Spokane is working to accomplish this goal. buff.ly/S4stnx5