Returning Against the Current

Eddie Newsom & Caroline Menten
Summer of 2026

By partnering with NRS (Northwest River Supplies) and Columbia Land Trust, we propose to engage critically with the Columbia River as both a lived and imagined landscape by paddling 430-miles from Astoria, Oregon, to Lewiston, Idaho, and delivering a short film, zine, multiple published articles, and short-form video content. To better understand (1) the conservation threats to this critical species,  and (2), how the language we use limits and realizes the ways in which we interact with salmon. Secondarily, we wish to link imagined disparate sections of this river in one cohesive paddle; everyone has their own Columbia or Snake River, but by connecting them we begin to form a more holistic understanding of our shared environment, of ‘our river.’ To better understand them, we must follow them.

P.S. keep a lookout for our short film in August!