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

♪♪♪ shanracef salmonince theprehisth has not st an enre wentxtinct or 5 llion yes ago. ♪♪ shanracef salmonince theprehisth has not st an enre shan but nowime running outor the st wild ns of spring cnook, shan but nowime ♪♪ guably, e most vered pafic salm.

♪♪ deborah gis: salmoare thmost amang speci on the plan, and rely, if you're tking abo one grouof thosealmon, the spri chinook salm are at e p of tt list silawhitman: spiritl impor, th fish isery pronnced. ss thuro friend mine cls them riners andanpt descrtion and th's l these fh. ey're bacally thbest the best, andhese sh are areally hh riskf extincon. mike mler: sprg run's st a go examplef a specs that is scriticalrom an ecologic, a cultal, and onomic pspectiveyet it's just n and th've beenisappearg fodecades,nd nobody'seally done anythingbout it. and th've beenisappearg fodthey'rthe lostalmon. ♪♪

shane: ie spent e betterartt ♪♪ pa decade documeing wi salmon, the ples they ve, and the ise. ♪♪ ♪♪ the ples they ve, and the ise. ♪♪ she: the mic of wi salmonis thee wi every scies, li histor and migtion gho waters d ecologal icounities,herere still so places ft on eah whereyou cae ♪♪ ghoalive dung theogal icouniannualigrationill shane: b closer home, the fabr that wi saln weave thughout t nthwest ntinues unravelt alarmi rates, with many species from many places at risk.

♪♪♪ rashe:s the fity species frsaon to arve home,risk. the spng run ochinook ve onof the mt 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 ameriearth th triggerst a cu-like followg ofishermen ♪♪ ane: chiok have e largt range t of anyacific saon, but ringers ly exist in the southern end, where over half the genetically unique populaons havealready en ex. ♪♪ shabe allowedo virtuayth modippear fr then earth

vast nber of rers th and at does eir futu hold? ese quesons d me oa two year joney roughout salmonoy in seah for thlast wil springs, whilexploringheir connecti to peop and pla 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 to improve cservatio outcom for threaten and dangeredpecies. to improve 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 in my ways, e inreapplation ofenetics to issuein conseation have bn pioneed migrnarch buerfliescsto pacifo and 've work on wee 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 the rsonss thatany saon populions are in t most efcient wa thatened oendanger tor arelready einct. and ov the las and onof the rsonss 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. , spri chinookerses fallhinook, r exampl so, i waed to unrsta specs of saln is difrences the ne or thgenes th were. invoed in th procs, but tn also how thatenetic variatioevolved. invoed in th david ntgomeryif you ok at wh happenein the periodhen the pacifisalmon diversifd duringbout 20 invoed in th damilln years o and 10 yomilln yes ago, t wholehe physgraphy, e topogrhy ofhe weste edge of nor america changeradic. the olpic mounins camep. the rthern ciforniacoast ra. the casce range t taller the untains on the edgof weern nortamerica anged right inhat peri when th spies we kw today from t a. pacifisalmon elved into the the evolion of the pographyhaped

the evution of intherords, thsalmon evolved ght alonlmon shane:hinook a the tha largesand mostiverse o of the fi speci of pacic saon, and olved in alaska, ithe nortrneason mig. hemihere, th mrate in eof summ when rirs arfree froice. and in t southerend ofhe rangethey edominany returnn the spring, mmer, anfall. ♪♪♪ shane: they're born in fresh water nests called a redd, where eir homeaters ar imprind into tir dna shanfore migting to en fresh wateoceawhere thrd a redd, where ♪♪♪ dy chemiryhanges a th adapt tsalt. she: theircean migtions are baseoff theirivers o

origin athey tral thousas of mes over veral yes, raging f food anutilizin inrnal comss navigion until a imal insnct call them he, wherehey're ae to smell eir way ck to th very wers theyere bornn. 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 utilizeor that tthsands ofears. shane: spring gration allowedh habita that nother lmon cou by gettg a 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 ♪♪♪ t ane: aft returni homompetive . gefromne of thmost ardus journeysn the anal kingd, theyill sele a partn and pa down 15illion yrs ofmpetive . netic inrmation the nex generaon, befo makin the timate srifice. one of t few anals on eth that wl never ow thr offsprg. 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 gn of thoil has t a magil saon were e ones tt said, "we wi help to save tse pel and to me sure tt thr time on eartis ent wise, we wil givef ourselves.

"we wi help to save tse pel ka wilamson-cld: becau of thaancient venant whad 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 to fulll his that walso shothe salm thatpromise our peoe.till aeir spirual well-bei and or physic well-beg iscis attachedo these aditiona fos, as we. fr that stdpoint, u know,i thinn or physic well-beg iscis imprinteon o dna becse if u think out the neration ousands,oing bac thounds of yearshat our imprinteon o dna becse if peoare the fos th u thi tour bodiesnow.ion mike: willamette falls in this area was a hub for people

long before people of european ancestry started coit was such an importantt wasalmon fishery. i wish i could've seen them in person before they oked like this. the st was conized through oreg city, which was the end of the oregon trail. i was rn at willamet falls hpital. my gre grandmaorked at the dir. her grt grandfher cameo oregon on the oregon trail. u know, st growi up, lmon was such aimportanpart of the cture. itas just area oflue llar, saon fisheen.w

mike: never plned to bome a neticistthat's f se. 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, there's me yearshere 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 syste in place, and salmon was our economy. and as soon as the settlers arrived, and they disrupted it. ey wanteto catchhem l, becau they ought it wou never d, not rlizing tt r that'shy theremwas miions . l, becau they she: as ungulated rvest s in fulswing, t west wa being but on the backof so srivers we turned insideut in s. s in fulswing, t west wa ancient rests we liquidad and tire watsheds daed. ♪♪

herere builtn villagsites d are built onishing pces. she: to migate for the lo , fish hateries we seen as the sver bull. by cating a ctory pruction stem, itas assum that salm wouldo longereed vers to ovide fieries. 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 w you inrit diffent

charactestics om our m, right,s. we havonea and oncopy of r dnfrom ourad. and saon are ectly theame. that d contas th instructiomanu to bui evething in the oanism. if youe a fisht says h or where tput scal. to bui evething it tel you whayou're supposedo eat, iyou're if youe a fisht says h suosed to afraid orthe kier whaler not. to bui evething it tel you whayou're suppit contas everytng. i joed mike'lab righas th were woing on thenitial disvery, an thatas life-anging r me in many differenways. mike: sogeneticisvery, an 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 washought that they uld re-elve radly fromall run ink. tasha:e took sing inook, a we tookall run chink, and wcomparedheir dna acss large stions of their nome, anwe foundhat the was th oneingle reon thatt between ring r and fa run chiok. and thdifferen we see betwo and ll chino is jt screamg. likeit's a he differce. mikei thoughit wareally cl, you kw. 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 producesummer r vers winter n steelhd. 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 ill for liticsr fopartisship. 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 distct pulationegments salmon have bn listeds thatened oendanger. mike: e endangedct specs act don't justrotect stinct blogical ecies, but there's a clse in

it thaalso lally protect at arealled distinctopulatiosegments withi. that dtinct polation gment clses is t 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 oregon,nd waington, t the ovall biogical scies woun't threated or endgered, becausthere'd some hethy indiduals inlaska. 's imptant to nserve ts dirsity, ts subspecies level diveities, aptationso diinct geoaphic eas. 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 groud into the sameonservatn unit.

shan current managent can be pe the amrern and pvide a harvt oy thousas of falchinook ill for lol communies, run at's on thbrink extinctn.he spri shane:ight nowthe drivg foebe that ifpring run polichas ii tpoli would cnge, buti was ï. the consvation, righ ♪♪♪ 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 of the smon riveavels ♪♪ rtshane: since fall chinookes of miare unable to make this epics migration, this is one of the few populations of spring rusa t of thelardraina is still. wildness arein the ler 48. ssuorts o of the wparticully unt reining wild populions of ring, suer chino in e entireolumbibasin. wessessepopulatis acrossthe who% reining wild populions of of the esting spng, summ chink habitastill suorts

wild chiok like haveossthe who% here in e midd fork.ons of in allhose oer draines, th've eith been exrpated, or theve been altereby hatcheryish intructions. these fi are sti the nave wild netic popution. d we havdiversit bothithin these fi are sti the tributars and naveacross tbutariestion. ♪♪ russ: ere'an accou in theewis andlark jourl where ey writ "salmonumbers russ: ere'an accou e almostnconceivle." the storicalccount sgests.how m? mewhere tween 10nd 16 millioadult chook ented the combia eacyear. two toix milli of thoscame in the sna basin ♪♪ at were rt of here in e salm. shane:inding wd springchinook dn is no ea task, a at anaverage or

river mi, the mile fork is the, unue populions for over fo. motoring tse russ: ju keep low prole. you mighwant to t yourripod seup case shturns an star diggingole. ss: a loof the fh will spawn inhe same ffle whe ey came t of e gravels fry. our fishroduce aot oeggs. the erage fele producesbout 5,0 eggs.

so people ll thesehe ultramaratn the untainee of producee salmonorld.s. sclbing clo to 6,60feetrr800 mie 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. and tlor elevatnhe a tter cars are rming. as shan don't ty have differencharactestics where ey selec the rongest te? russ: ah, and mean wha we're tnessingere righnow is nuralelectionere the spaing bedsoday. theye jockeying fopositionnext r wofthe less males, dghnow sex prodts in th mix,o that

they'rpart of e ne generatn. sethat'shat all e fiting and they'rpart of e althose thgs aren adapti that h been deloped ov miions of ars to me thesefish t. it's harto predi how lonld t hao theyave, butome scieists have sd probab absh are sunique.s mike: oe if thoseish are st, theye ofimeframethat hums thinkon, wh, not nna comeack in a kind en you csider ho uniquend how azing theare. if thoseish are st, theye an you kw, that's not evkon, wh, considing that uld meand to t tribes at have lied onhem for ousands years.. kia: so,e're her todapractici our

to ttraditioof cominlied onhem to cch the smon.rs.. is area call yainma rapid river whh means the co water. d rit with t junctiowith thmu'lpe othe midd salmon river,hich was traditial campsi of the z perce mth area alglies orithsalmon rer.. this h become more imptant fiery for z perce ople is becausthe saon 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 enougho still ntinue r fishinpractice ♪♪

happed rightere, thebilityn forh try to tigate f those dams tt have bn built intaininthe stocthatere maintar migined from ese plac,ill which is imptant, it don't ok s stainablwithout taki anothertep. which is imptant, it don't o♪♪s 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. anso a lotf peoplereally d't coe resoce's contion based our curnt storicalhinook rs were d wh the trupotentiais.

so, the's a lo historylof stuin. resoce's contion reallytarts ckn the 19s. s abin six difrent midegame snds resforkributari, includg marsh eek. the mile fork pported clos. at was tough th1950s, 's, before the precipito 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 cthe are no325n dramatally . les of rervoir in 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 recor salmonteelhead for ose to 4years no think thestimateow is ov billi dollarsave been spent those effts, and t our sh are sll at ve high risk of tinctionased think thestimateow is ov billi dollarsave been onhe most cent natial marinfisherie serve recovery 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 lufofold incase. you t anothe1,000 adts back in re, and at's jus going to keep building each generation, and