Salmon Nation, a Networked Bioregion

THE PROBLEM:

Bioregions are vast and difficult to identify, much less organize the scattered people who live there into a coordinated force for practical change.

WHO'S ALREADY ON IT:

The bioregion stretches from northern California to southern Alaska, united by the native being Salmon, which has fed and nurtured indigenous tribes for millennia.

"Salmon Nation is a bioregion defined by the historic range of wild Pacific salmon – from the Salinas River in California, north to the Yukon River in Alaska.

"Salmon Nation is also an idea –  that we can organize ourselves as a nature state in a big, diverse, powerful and holistic integration of people and place, with thriving local communities living in deep relationship with the lands and waters that nourish all of us."

That text is from the home page of Salmon Nation, a nonprofit organization spread across four states and a Canadian province. The bioregional focus eliminates the political map lines that make an artificial picture of a landscape.  

Salmon Nation is also a funding source, a Trust, that supports practical programs around the bioregion that root humans in relationship to rivers, forests, mountains, and wildlife. Most of these programs are led by Indigenous tribes whose heritage is in that landscape. Its newest program is the Edge Prize, a financial award established in 2022, to "Innovators, entrepreneurs, and local leaders weaving open source and Indigenous knowledge together for a more connected and resilient world." Salmon Nation Trust partners with Northwest bioregional organizations Terran Collective and Magic Canoe in this award.

"Our central observation is that there are abundant enterprising individuals, particularly in ‘edge communities’ outside dominant centers of power and money, who are actively adapting to climate change and innovating pathways to more reliable prosperity" says the web site.

"At the edges are the seeds of new ways to live in step with natural systems. Edges are rural and urban. Edges are diverse. Edges are innovative.

"At the edges are where we spark the wholesale re-imagining of our economy and environment in Salmon Nation."

I'm excited to be connected with the news from Salmon Nation through their newsletter on Hylo.com social media net.

#Ground #water #wildlife #food #landscape #Civica #indigenous #bioregions #governance #education