Where Adventure Meets Stewardship
The Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Fund has awarded Columbia Land Trust a $25,000 grant to restore salmon habitat along the Columbia River and its major tributaries.
A salmon attempts to scale the cascades of the Klickitat River. Photo: Brian Chambers Photography
The Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic (LEX-NG) Fund recently awarded Columbia Land Trust $25,000 to restore critical salmon habitat areas along the lower Columbia River.
The LEX-NG Fund is born from the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic alliance, which organizes expeditions that inspire people to explore and care about the planet. One hundred percent of expedition guests’ contributions go directly to on-the-ground projects via the LEX-NG Fund, which has granted more than $11.3 million to projects in the regions its expeditions visit. In the Pacific Northwest, the LEX-NG Fund has supported Columbia Land Trust’s commitment to ensuring salmon — the lifeblood of the region — endure in one of the great rivers of the American West.
“We are thrilled to be able to support Columbia Land Trust’s efforts to restore salmon habitat throughout the Pacific Northwest region,” said Amy Berquist, Director of Conservation Programs and Strategic Initiatives for Lindblad Expeditions. “One of the guiding principles encouraged by Sven Lindblad, our CEO and President, is making a positive impact on the areas we explore and in which we work. I couldn’t imagine being in the travel business without this critical cornerstone.”
For more than 15 years, Columbia Land Trust’s efforts to protect, restore, and enhance salmon habitat have spanned the lower Columbia River and its major tributaries. Upcoming and ongoing projects in 2016 will restore salmon rearing and spawning habitat in places of great ecological and cultural significance, including Pierce Island and the Klickitat River in Washington, the Lower Hood River and the Tualatin River in Oregon, and the Lower Columbia River Estuary.
Habitat restoration efforts range from the removal of outmoded road infrastructure from the banks of the wild and scenic Klickitat River to the rechannelization of salmon-rearing habitat in the tidal wetlands of Grays Bay, Washington.
This year’s funding builds upon a LEX-NG Fund grant of $25,000 awarded to Columbia Land Trust in 2015. With continued support in 2016, the Land Trust is poised to complete major, multi-year projects and embark on new efforts like restoring riparian forest habitat along the Tualatin River.