Return to the River Salmon Festival to strengthen regional food chain

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Walla Walla Community College's Water & Environmental Center are co-hosting the annual Return to the River Salmon Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16.

The event is at Walla Walla Community College near the ballfields, 500 Tausick Way. The festival is free and open to the public.

Drew Trogstad-Isaacson, interim director for the WWCC's Water & Environmental Center, said that the event is an opportunity for community members to celebrate and learn about their local Walla Walla River Basin.

The releases for fingerling Spring Chinook are scheduled for noon and 1:30 p.m. and led by the Tri-State Steelheaders. The fingerlings were raised by classrooms in the Walla Walla area through the Salmon in Schools program.

Trogstad-Isaacson said since the festival started, he has been able to see how students are continuing to learn about their local habitat as they grow up in school.

"There is so much going on in the schools that are all interconnected, and it's really fun to meet kids later on," Trogstad-Isaacson said. "I'll teach eighth graders and I'll ask them, 'Hey, do you remember what the conditions are for ideal salmon population?' and they remember their fourth grade lesson with the Steelheaders and they're able to recall that."

Other hands-on activities include seeing lamprey and native fish on display, stream tables, beaver dam displays, fish printing and the opportunity to ask local experts about conservation and salmon restoration work. There will be about 35 vendors on site.

Wenix Red Elk, public outreach and education specialist for the CTUIR Department of Natural Resources and Cultural Resources Protection Program, has been involved since the festival's first iteration in 2009. Red Elk said she recently told students the salmon they released five years ago at Mill Creek are returning because of their efforts. CTUIR will have a blessing for the fish before the release.

"We have kids see the work they're doing and use it as a teaching moment," she said.

Red Elk said CTUIR's aim to bring back a healthy watershed is important because Walla Walla is part of the tribes' ancestral homeland. CTUIR also aims to exercise their rights signed in the Treaty of 1855 that ensures inherent fishing, hunting and gathering rights.

She said the festival spotlights CTUIR's work to reintroduce salmon, to strengthen connections between the local food web chain and to invest in freshwater mussels and lampreys. Those populations clean the river and provide nutrients in the water and are all part of the tribes' First Foods Vision.

Red Elk said she wants to see environmental restoration and salmon populations return to historic levels in the area.

"Restoring ecology is not just for us (the tribes). We are also doing this for the Earth. We want (salmon) to be so productive so that everyone can participate and do this sustainably," Red Elk said.

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 10:12 PM.