The Making of the Resilient Salmon Initiative
The kernel of the Resilient Salmon Initiative idea began in 2020 and as with any big idea it has incubated and shape-shifted along the way to becoming a fully formed initiative. It began with initial conversations among Long Live the Kings and their partners about how to understand and resolve the roadblocks that are holding back Pacific salmon recovery, especially in the face of rapidly changing climate conditions.
These conversations were informed by the lessons that Long Live the Kings, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and their partners learned from the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project. It was apparent that the survival of young salmon as they entered the ocean was declining in part because of regional ecosystems shifts driven by changing climate. Those conversations lead to scoping workshops held in 2023, and a series of listening sessions with salmon fishing communities, knowledge holders, and recovery practitioners, across the region in 2024.
From California’s Central Valley to the Yukon River in the Yukon Territory and Alaska, Chinook salmon populations are quickly dwindling. We learned that there is a nearly universal frustration with the slow pace of salmon resilience actions that are no match for a rapidly changing climate, and a deep concern over the public’s limited understanding of the value of salmon to their communities, ecosystems and economies. As salmon populations decline, people in salmon-reliant communities and ecosystems become disconnected from the ways in which salmon support the things they value. Consumers may just pivot to buying farmed salmon from across the world, without recognizing that Pacific salmon carcasses are what fertilize the forests of the Pacific Coast up to the Arctic, or that salmon support the Orca whales, eagles, and grizzly bears that call our regions home.
In a region where salmon were once the essential cornerstone of a vibrant ecosystem, supporting indigenous cultures since time immemorial, there is now a disconnect with people’s everyday lives and livelihoods. Furthermore, the community members, knowledge holders and practitioners who do understand the important role that salmon play in the ecosystems and economies are hampered by a lack of regional coordination, strong sectoral silos, and complicated, overlapping authorizing environments.
To build on what was heard during the scoping workshops and the listening sessions, we formed a Strategic Planning Committee in 2025 to develop a Strategic Plan. This Plan represents a collective call to action for a collaborative initiative addressing the shared habitat and water challenges facing Pacific salmon across the United States and Canada. The goals of the initiative are to improve our connections, align and strengthen our communications, and to mobilize the government and philanthropic resources needed to implement a substantially expanded agenda of resilience actions throughout the region. In particular, as an effort to break down silos while operating within existing authorities and governance frameworks, the Initiative is guided by the value “Respect multiple ways of knowing and build on that knowledge.”
The Resilient Salmon Initiative seeks to use forums and methods that braid together Western science and perspectives with local knowledge and Indigenous knowledges, cultures, and sovereignty. The partners acknowledge that this is a refrain that has become more common in the conservation world but is rarely made actionable. This process of ‘braiding together’ will require an openness to different perspectives far beyond what has occurred in the past, continuous learning and unlearning, considerable honest reflection, and a willingness to challenge our existing assumptions. In short, there will be growing pains as our effort seeks new stream channels that bring together distinct knowledge sources.
The outcomes of the December 2023 Salmon and Climate Workshop that brought together over 70 knowledge holders and practitioners are described in the summary report, and play a prominent role in the Strategic Plan, notably:
- The value of connecting across boundaries and silos to learn from each other and develop a shared understanding of the challenges faced by salmon under a changing climate see the ‘Connect’ stream within the Plan.
- The desire to develop shared storytelling to further overall messaging to the public and decision-makers around salmon resilience under a changing climate See the ‘Communicate’ stream within the Plan.
- The focus on action A core value of the initiative is to ‘Be salmon-centered and action-oriented’; See the Theory of Change, on how we plan to accelerate investment in salmon resilience actions.
The draft plan was reviewed by dozens of experienced practitioners and managers from across the broad region and adjusted based on that feedback. That plan was published in November 2025 and staff at Long Live the Kings developed a companion Initial Actions Plan that outlines the foundational steps the RSI will take to achieve the first set of objectives (2-Year Strategic Objectives) described in the Strategic Plan. Both the long-view of the Strategic Plan and the shorter-term Actions Plans are intended to be adaptable to the changing conditions.
We see this initiative as a catalyst for salmon resilience actions – it will speed up a process by lowering the barrier need to get results without also getting consumed in the process. As we learn from each other and build our coalition across the range of Pacific salmon in western North America over the coming decade+, we will grow and change to ensure that we continue to catalyze actions on the ground and in the water. We hope you and your organization will join us in making this happen.