Forum: Varied interests for ecology, civil rights can speak together

Published 1:30 am Saturday, November 15, 2025

By Don J. Miller / Herald Forum

Recently I attended the Rise Up Northwest in Unity conference in Portland, Ore., hosted by the Nez Perce Tribe. The conference brings people together to advocate for the recovery of steelhead and salmon in the Columbia Basin.

On the way to Portland I visited Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 1,400 sandhill cranes that breed in Canada migrate there to spend their winter. The refuge has become ever more critical space for the cranes as human population has encroached. Also, because it has been in news so much and I was in the vicinity, I stopped by Portland’s ICE detention facility. I witnessed many large white vans hurrying in and out of the facility, ICE agents on the roof, and an immigration lawyer assisting individuals make inquiries, presumably about someone they were missing.

Fish, sandhill cranes and a significant number of people all facing a similar challenge, restrictions on movement that is necessary for their well-being.

At the RUN conference I spoke with Joseph Bogaard and Amy Bower Cordalis. Joseph is executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon and wrote a recent commentary in The Herald (“Scuttling Columbia Basin pact ignores peril to salmon,” The Herald, Oct. 18). Amy is a member of the Yurok Tribe, a fisherwoman and attorney. She served as the Yurok Tribe’s general counsel during their successful quest to remove Klamath River dams. She just released her first book, “The Water Remembers,” telling her family’s story of the fight to save a river and way of life.

Amy and Joseph have many years of experience creating dialogue around complex issues. Listening to their words I heard common themes. Discordant parties may have more in common than they realize and making that realization can provide benefits for all. Unfortunately, pursuit of common ground can be evasive. The hard conversations need a guiding principle, the principle of balance. Balance in the well-being of all our relatives; all of humanity, the plants and animals, and this unique sphere, planet Earth.

Thank you for your consideration.

Don J. Miller lives in Arlington.