Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community:

I’m not a scientist. I don’t know why climate change is happening. I don’t know if it’s just — if it’s just a cycle in the Earth, you know — it’s a generational thing, or if there’s too much pollution entering the atmosphere. And so when we’re seeing climate change impacts in our areas, we figure we better get ahead of the curve.

The Swinomish, or “Salmon People,” became the first tribe in the country to conduct a climate adaptation assessment that paired observations in their natural world with top scientific research. Melting glaciers in the Pacific Northwest could push salmon to the brink of extinction. For these Northwest tribes, this means fighting to preserve their way of life.