Continued from Page 8
The first, “A Photographic Journey
through the Columbia River Estuary,” cap-
tures the beauty and biodiversity of the 146-
mile estuary between the Bonneville Dam
and the Pacific Ocean through photographs.
Its companion, “There and Back Again,”
is an act of advocacy and scholarship
focused on the Columbia River’s most
recognizable symbol — salmon.
Through interviews, photos and science
writing, Welle highlights ongoing efforts
to restore long-overlooked salmon hab-
itat along the river, reaching from West
Sand Island to Sauvie Island and further
upstream.
“I would actually be a little surprised
when I would talk to friends and neighbors
who didn’t know about the salmon (popula-
tion) problem,” said Welle of the books’ ori-
gins. “It dawned on me, this is not common
knowledge.”
In that respect, Welle views the books,
available locally at the Columbia River
Maritime Museum or via patwelle.com, as
public outreach for her decades immersed
in Columbia River ecology.
If audiences are struck by the photo
book’s sun-dappled riverscapes or intimate
closeups of osprey and wapato, Welle hopes
perhaps they’ll also be inspired to explore
the health and viability of that nature in
“There And Back Again.”
“A lot of scientists talk to scientists,
which is all great, but sometimes the pub-
lic needs to understand more of what we’re
doing,” Welle said. “Photography became
my medium.”
When Welle retired from the Scappoose
Bay Watershed Council in 2019, she sought
to continue her restoration efforts while
ramping up her photography.
Inspired by Jim Lichatowich’s “Salmon
Without Rivers,” she began writing and
researching her own book, while adding
to the Columbia River photo collections
she’d been crafting for years by foot and by
kayak.
“I spend a lot of time just being in areas
I like,” Welle said of locales like nearby
Waikiki Beach on the Long Beach Penin-
sula. “The photograph comes once you get
to know a place.”
Chronicling the work of organizations
like the Columbia River Estuary Study
Taskforce, “There And Back Again” argues
for the urgency of salmon habitat resto-
ration, giving the species new hope to
spawn and mature upriver while correcting
a 150-year misconception that salmon use
the Columbia purely as a travel “corridor.”
Restoration efforts vary depending on
the river region and salmon species but
could include removing invasive plant
life, digging new channel connections or
Photos by Pat Welle
ABOVE: A western painted turtle in
Multnomah Channel near Portland. LEFT: A
map of the Columbia River estuary. BELOW:
Morning fog at the Cape Disappointment
boat ramp, near Ilwaco.
obstructing the current with logs and detri-
tus to increase pooling, shade, food sources
and protection from predators. Welle
preaches patience to outsiders who might
see such restoration projects as superficially
destructive or idling.
“One of the (restoration) projects I
enjoyed the most was working with a reluc-
tant landowner, and after years of work-
ing on their property, then the neighbor
gets interested. So there’s a snowball effect.
You’re pitching people!”
While Welle’s books cite several blunt
statistics of ecosystem loss — like salmon
populations dwindling since the 1850s or
a 70% destruction of their spawning hab-
itat — the author still detects hope among
conservationists, fishermen and scientists.
In as little as one year after restoration, her
reporting shows, salmon can now take ref-
uge in new portions of their native streams.
“(Salmon) have evolved over a mil-
lion years,” Welle said. “They went
through earthquakes, volcanic activities.
All these changes up and down the river,
they evolved. And they came back. We’re
throwing them a lot of curves, but they are
resilient.”
Crews planting red alder saplings on a
restoration site.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022 // 9