Recently, I attended a water policy public hearing in Sacramento. Around the table were representatives from agriculture, dam operations, conservation, fisheries, and Tribal communities, each invited to explain why their priorities should shape California’s next water plan. Farmers spoke about crop failure without reliable water. Ecologists warned that diverting too much water from rivers would push keystone species toward collapse. Others proposed compromise solutions, maintaining current...

In January, at the Feather River Tribal Health center, a circle of healthcare providers formed at the end of a long day. Not the kind of circle you rush through, but one you settle into, shoulder to shoulder, letting the room grow quiet. Voices moved one at a time. Some carried gratitude. Some carried honest discomfort- the kind that surfaces when you realize how much you were never taught. All spoke with resolve. We listened as providers named what they would carry back with them: into...

By: Taylor Pennewell, Co-founder, Executive Director Huddled together on a platform at the base of the Lake Oroville Barrier Dam, we watched as hundreds of salmon leapt with all their might, out of the Feather River and toward home. Deep in their DNA, the call of home was fierce, the songs, the smells, and the memories pulled them like a magnet from the ocean back to the waters of their ancestors. Desperate and determined to return, they hurled themselves from the water, only to find their...