male announcer: this program was made possible with genous support from the open rivers fund, a program supported by the william and flora hewlett foundation, patagonia media j? grants, the maybelle clark mcdonald foundation, the freas foundation, the dalton family trust, and the north umpqua foundation. ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ aracef salmonince theprehisth s not lo an enti wentxtinct or 5 llion yes ago. ♪♪ aracef salmonince theprehisth s not lo an enti shan but nowime running outor the la wild ru of ring chiok, shan but nowime ♪♪ guably, e most vered pafic salm.

♪♪ deborah gis: salmoare thmost amang speci on the planetand real, if you're tking abo one grouof thosealmon, the spri chinook salm are athe p of tt list silawhitman: spiritl impor, th fish isery pronnced. russ thuw: friend mine cls them riners sid mountaeers,iritl impor, th and that reallynced. an a descripon ofhese fis ey're bacally thbest the best, andhese fish aret reallyigh ri of extition. mike mler: sing run'just a od examp of a spies that is scriticalrom an ecologic, a cultal, and econic perective, t it's just dispearing, and theye beenisappearg fodecades,nd econobody'sealldone it's justanythingbout it. and theye beenisappearg fodthey're e lostalmon. ♪♪

pa decade documentg wildalmon,of the e ples they ve, and the is. ♪♪ ♪♪ e ples they ve, and the is. ♪♪ she: the mic of wi salmonis thee ♪♪ e ples they ve, and the is. th everypecies, fe histy, and mration gho waters d ecologal icounities,herere still somelaces le on eartwhere u can selandscap come ♪♪ ghoalive dung theogal icouniannualigrationill shane: b closer home, the fabr that wi saln ave throhout t northst contues to uavel at arming rates, with many species from many places at risk.

♪♪♪ she: as the rst lmon to rive hom the ring runf chinoohave e of theost fascath're a spies ofhe animdesire f an enti osystem,ut victims of the modern world. they've been the sacrament and cornerstone for some of the oldessoughtfter fisonin north amerieah thatriggersost a cultikfollowin of fhermen. ♪♪ ane: chiok have e largt range t of anyacific saon, but ringers ly exist in the southern end, where over half the genetically unique populatis have ready be extirted. ♪♪ shane:o, why h one of e be allowedo virtuay modippear om then earth

vast nber of rers th and at does eir futu hold? ese quesons d me oa two year joney thughout salmon cntry in seah for thlast wil springs, whilexploringheir connecti to peop and pla joney thughout and a w genetidiscoverthat could help save the king of salmon before it's too late. animal sence at the universi of lifornia davi and ts is geneticlab. myoal as aeneticis is to e geneti tomprove cservatio outcom for threaten and dangeredpecies. tomprove cservatio wee probab worked on morspn outcom for just abo anyone else othe .

migrati charaeristics and 've work on wee been ptty inrestedn the netic sis at ia numberf species fr, u know, migrnarch buerfliescsto pacifo and 've work on wee been ptty inrestedn the netic sis in my ways, e applation ofenetics to issuein conseation have bn pioneed in my ways, e inalmon fothe last0 years. salm are alws at then foreont of h to use netics in t most efcient wa to hp conser species and onof theeasonss thatany saon populions are in t most efcient wa thatened oendanger tor arelready einct. and ov the las and onof theeasonss th20 yrs, as mhods witnare in t most efcient wa netics he change and som of the methodsre einct. methodthat i w invoed in deloping, became psible toeally do high solution methodthat i w netic anysis of rtually any sp. invoed in deloping, and wh that beme possie, i kn what i wanted twork on. obvisly, i wted work onalmon.

specs of saln is difrences adult mration ting.gical. so, spri chinookerses fallhinookfor exame. so, i waed to unrsta specs of saln is difrences the ne or thgenes th were. invoed in th procs, but tn also so, i waed to unrsta specs ow that geticfrences the variatioevolved. were. invoed in th david ntgomeryif you ok at wh happenein the period wn the pacifisalmon diversifd duringbout 20 invoed in th damilln years o and 10 millione you ok at wh happenein the physgraphy, e topogrhy ofhe weste edge inof nor america changeradic. damilln years o and 10 millione you ok at wh happenein the the rthern ciforniacoast ra. the pic mounins camep. thmountains on the ee of tstern noh americchanged right inhat peri when th spies we kw today from t a. pacifisalmon elved into the the evution ofhe tography sped

the evolution of the pacific salmon. in other words, the salmon evolved right along with the landscape that we know today. shane: chinook are the largest and most diverse out of the fi speciesf pacic saon, and olved in alaska, ithe nortrneason mig. hemihere, th mrate in ee out of summ when rirs arfree froice. and in t southn end the ran, they edominany returnn the spring, mmer, anfall. ♪♪ she: they' born inreshwatenestse eir homeaters ar imprind into tir dna she:fore migting to ehwatenestse oceawhere thr ♪♪♪ bshe: theircean migtionsth adap. are baseoff theirivers o

origins they tvel thounds ofiles oveseveral ars, raging f food anutilizin inrnal comss navigion until a imal insnct call them he, wherehey're ae to smell eir way ck to th veryaters th were bo in. ke: salm populions beme adapt to theseery specic enronments whdierences at cause indivialsn i'talking out genec charactestics th allow tm to bsuccessf in the bitat, in this verypecific bitat thatd to utilizeor thsands ofears. shane: spring gration alloh habitatshat no oer saon couldy gettina head srt on lo migratis noff perct to antimcend watfalls. ke: so ty migratup in t sprg over summer tough reay hah conditns. t the befit they get ithey geto spawn couple nths

earlr than wt fall cnook uld be ae to spa, t thed it giv them a competive . geto spawn couple nths ♪♪♪ earlr than wt fall cnook uld be ae to spa, t shane: aft returni hompetive . gefromne of thmost ardus journeysn the anal kingd, passown 15 mlion yea of getic informatioto the nt generaon, befo makin the timate srifice. one of t few anals on eth thatill neveknow eir offsing. one of t few ♪♪ anals on eth shane: just as salmon coevolved with the landscape, people coevolved with them.

sdomented 1500r: the nars, theldest been cheologil site in northmerica. to ts day, iis a nez perce site. and so it pretty much crushed the ice bridge theory. that relationship to salmon is part our creion stor silas: naco'x kuus, naco'x kuus, naco'x kuus is the generic name fothe salm, but uslly appliedo spring chink, whichere the rst es cominin. fothey're prablyuslly appe filet gnonf thoil has t a magil prensity tdo hling. saon werthe oneshat said "we wi help to save tse pel d to maksure tha theitime oearth ent wise, we wil givef ourselves.

"we wi help to save tse pel ka willison-clou becauseof thatd theitime oearth with thealmon ashe firstne thattepped fward on r half, anall thosthat lin up behd him, tt it's t way that walso shothe salm that wstill ne him, wetill appriate himand at's par of whas bringi him bacis that to ffill his promisto our . that wstill ne him, wetill aeir spirual well-bei and or physic well-beg iscis attachedo these aditiona food as well om that andpointyou know i thingeneticay salmons imprinteon our dna bause ifyou , ousands,oing bac thounds of yearshat our imprinteon our dna bause ifyou , peoare the ods that our b. these, d those mike: willamette falls in this area was a hub for people

long before people of european ancestry started colonizing the west, and it was a hub because lit was such an important esalmon fishery.y started i wish i could've seen them in person before they loed like this. the we was colized rough oregonity, which was the end of the oregon trail. i was rn at willamet falls hpital. my gre grandmaorked at the dir. her grt grandfather cameo oregon on the oregon trail. su an impoant part of t cue up, lmon was

itas just area oflue genetici, that'sor sure.ei nevee thonly thi i'd tually er though about beming was a fishg . ere's ill a i'd ring chiok fishe. 's primarilyngsuppord by hateh e fishg's justot as good as used toe. it inconsient. there's me yearshere e returnare real low. and wiamette pduced a lae numberf springhinook, ceainly hureds of ousands,if no. e returnare real low. now all e major ibutarie havenpassabldams on em. you ow, we'v degred the hitat so now abstantiay that trie havewillette baryon em. supportsny natur prodtion of ring run

she: willatte fallwa the enof the ogon traibut the benning ofestern pansion,here new idlogy of nifestin the cient retionshipwith sa. desty chged lbur stoish: we d a mmerce sysm anas soon the setersm arved, andhey diupted it ey wanteto catchhem l, becau they rthat'shy there was miions o. d, not rlizing tt shan as unrelated haest wain full ing, theest was being but on the backof so svers werturneded haest inside-o in sear for gols ancient rests re liquited anentire wersheds mmed.

♪♪ here a built ovillage tes and are built onishing pces. ane: to tigate f the ss of saon, fish hateries we seen as the sver bull. by cating a ctory pruction stem, itas assum that salm would nlonger nd rirs to pride fishies. wilbur: at was t promise we wilsuppleme and rebld. you'll have re fish an yohave preously ha wilbur: at was t promise ♪♪ we wilsuppleme and rebld. taa thomps: geneti advaes have ppened rlly, wilbur: at was t promise ♪♪ thiss being lled theoldene la f. e of genics righnow.ebld.

geneticsasicallyays om our m, right,fent characa and oncopy of r dnfrom ourad. and saon are ectly theame. thatna conins th instructiomanu to bui evething in therganis. if youe a fisht says h or wre to t scales to bui evething in therganis. it tel you whayou're supposedo eat, iyou're if youe a fisht says h suosed to afraid orthe kier whaler not. it contas everytng. i joed mike'lab righas th were woing on thenial discory, and that wg r me in many differt ways. mike: sogeneticisry, and that wg arinterest in variions so, whenou're loing see variatiowithin aspeciess ouin natur and you is abo understding tasha: apecies c be crediblyiverse whin that

mi: if spring ruchinook werea caseor chino salmon. it was tught that they cod re-evoe radly fromall run ink. tash we tookpring chinook,nd we to fall ru chook, ande compar their dna ross largeections of their geme, anwe foundhat the was th oneingle reon that h this ge called grebt between ring run and fa run chiok. and e differce we se betwn spng chino and ll chino is jt screamg. likeit's a he differce. mike: thought was ally coo you kno we fured outhe spng run ge. i know tt at lea five endanger speciesct titions at have been smid spng run ge. i kndirectlyased five endaupon ouresearch. turnout it's t exact sebeen smid genend evoluonary meanism

at produs summerun veus winterun steeead. that getic varnt at the turnout it's t exact sebeen smid gsing gene iso importt to otect, bause if th disaears, weight havto wait a mlion ars to get it back ♪♪ sctored io thewhat's goingg dangeredpecies a. richarnixon: tse probms will t stand ♪♪ scill fopoliticsrt's goingg dfopartisship. a. shane: t endanged specie richarnixon: tse act isne of amica's beock vironmenl laws tt was acted by the nin adminiration 1973 wi unanous suppt fr the sene. and toda 28 distctration pulationegments salmon have bn listeds thatened oendanger. mike: e endangedctration specs act don't justrotect stinct blogical ecies, but thers a clse in.

it thaalso lally protect at arealled distinctopulatiosegments withi. that dtinct polation segment claus is the reason distwhmost species arets withi. protected--for example, grizzly bears or bald eagles. if the endangered species t only ptected distinct biologal spees, chook salmonould go tinct in califoia, in orego and ologicalpecies wldn't be threaned or eangered, becausthere'd some hethy indiduals inlaska. califoia, in orego and 's impornt to coerve ts diveity, thisupeci level dirsities,daptatio to stinct ggraphiareas. thquestions, well, what css our resus show tt springn run df segment of salmon? prection uer the dangeredpecies a. t right w springun poputions anfall run pulationare grped into the st dangeredpecies a.

shan current managent can be pe the amrern and pvide a harvt oy thousas of falchinook ill for lol communies, run at's on the ink ofxtinctiohe spri shane:ight nowthe drivg foebe that ifpring run polichas if sing rundisappea they're gon. not the se, righ i thpoli would cnge, buti was a. the consvation ♪♪♪ i di't reali the pow that litics c have oncience. shane: the columbia basin was once home to the largest

chinook population on earth, before 60 dams wiped out two-thirds of their genetic diversity. but one of the greatest races of salmon still exists and travels over 800 river miles past eight dams and climbs over 6,000 rtical ft into iho'sest races of mile fork the saln river.avels ♪♪ rtshane: since fall chinookes of miare unable to make this epics migration, this is one of the few populations of spring cha t of thereidraina is still. wildness arein the ler 48.: it t sothe midd fork isparticully unt pports o of the waina is still. wreining wild popations o.: it t sotring, suer chino inicully unt e entireolumbibasin. wessessed populaons acros still. the whe draina, and on 4%.: it t

wild chiok like havesuer here in e midd fork.ports in allhose oer draines, th've eith been exrpated, or they' been altered tchery fh introdtions. these sh are sll the tive wilgenetic popution. anwe have versity both whin thestributars andthe tiveacross tbutariestion. ♪♪russ: ere'an accou in theewis andlark jourl where ey writ "salmonumbers e almostnconceivle." milln adult inookt sgestssomewh6 enred the lumbia eh year. two toix milli of thoscame in the sna basin ♪♪ th were pa of here in e salm. shane:inding wd springchinook dn is no ea task, a at anaveragof r

river mi, the mile fork is the, whe russ h bn motoring tse uniq populatns for over four decas. russ: just keep low prol. you mighwant to t yourripod seup case shturns anp low prol. star digging ss: a loof the fh will spawn inhe same ffle whe ey came t of e gravels fry. our fishroduce aot oeggs. thaverage male produc about 500 eggs.

some pple callhese theltra mathoners,he marins and thavuntainee of prode salmonorld.eggs. sclbing clo to 6,60feetrr800 mie m elevati at is spot,nd ere'be of the st, therrarest o. basins like the middle fork that are very higelevatioare co air rugia, ev in thearest o. fa of a chging clite. anshe: don'they havea differts tter cars are rming. as where ey selec the rongest te? russ: ah, and mean wha we're tnessingere righnow is nuralelectionere the spaing bedsoday. re domina mal are dring wofthe less males, dghnow they'rjocking for sition xt to thfemale tget thei sex prodts in th mix,o that

they're rt of th nexteneratio sethat'shat all e fiting and theiving ea other away andtuff is. millns of yes to makthesei sh thetrongesthey can . it's harto predi how lonld t hao theyave, butome scieists have sd probab absh are sunique.s mike: oe timefras that hans thine on, whh i thinit is tric, en you csider ho uniquend how azing theare. d, you kw, that'not evene considing that uld mean, to t tribes at have lied onhem for ousands years.. naa: so, wre here today acr

to t tadition comingieto cat t. onhem for ousands years.. is area call yainma whh means the co water. d rit with t junctiowith thmu'lpe othe midd salmon river,hich was traditial campsi of the z perc pele goingack ousands years. manyf our falies iginatedrom thisrea alon the lmon riv. this h become more imptant fiery for z perce ople is becausthe lmon river doesn't have any dams on it. one of the largest chinook fisheries for the nez perce people are sitting behind dworshak dam currently. ♪♪ nakia: we have only a few places that have remained good enough tstill coinue r fishinpractice ♪♪♪

naki so, the supplentation fh happed rightere, thebility try to tigate f those dintaininthe stocthatere maintar migined from ese plac,ill which is iortant, don'look likit's stainablwithout taki anothertep. which is iortant, ♪♪ russhonestlyevery ti i see the wild fh in thi high-qlity habitatpawning, it y have orcome a ole lot obstles to sll be here. wee about 2%f what w heren the '5 and '60 we, as hans, tento judge resoce's contion based our curnt exrience othat. d so a l of peop reallyon't comehend wh the

hso, there's a long history aof studying chinook in idaho reallytarts ckn the 19s. h abinix difrent mideh andygames aof forkributari,ook in idaho includg marsh eek. the mile fork pported clos. at was tough th1950s, 's, before the precipius declines. shane: the clapse of the middle fork spring chinook directly correlated with the construction of four countendedial dams on the lower consequees for migration.ve russthe migrion rridor ithe snakand columbiaas been dramatally . ruere are w 325 rmiles ofeservoir i what was once a free-flowing river. and those reservoirs and the dams that create them have dramatical increased the mortality in migrating smolts, in particular, but also adults.

thin theolumbia sin, youknow, to think e estima now is er for oo billi dollarsave been spent those effts, and t our sh are sll at ve high risk of tinctionased think e estima now is er for oo billi dollarsave been naonal mare fishers seice recory plan. shann: turn those gger d. breach t dams. that thene we ca contl now, l's do it i'm pretty sure it's going to work. science says yes. russ: the comparative survival study reaffirms it again, and essentially says that if the snake is restored, we'll seat least a threeld inease in n sizes,nd if the snake restoration is coupled with maximum spwod resultn aing cofourld incree. you t anothe1,000 adts back iht going to keep building each generation, and