Community members took to the streets of Vancouver on Friday to raise awareness of climate issues facing Southwest Washington and beyond in observation of Earth Day.
The “Stop Salmon Extinction Rally and March” drew people to the Grant Street Pier Friday for speakers, letter-writing and a performance from Seattle-based band Right as Rain.
Activists then marched from the pier along Vancouver’s waterfront to legislators’ offices at Officers Row to rally against salmon extinction on the Snake River — briefly making a stop to wave signs above the Evergreen Boulevard Interstate 5 overpass.
The gathering marked the 30th anniversary of the Snake River Chinook salmon being listed on the Endangered Species Act.
Protesters carried “Don’t Dam Salmon” signs, referring to the efforts to remove outdated dams along the Snake River. Activist groups have pleaded with local legislators to consider research that shows how the dams threaten the lives of salmon — both a culturally significant and economically critical species — as they make their way to the ocean.
The rally comes three months ahead of the July 31 deadline by which Gov. Jay Inslee and other officials promised a recommendation about dam removal on the Snake River.
In east Vancouver, a hundred or so students at Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School in Vancouver walked out of class on Friday afternoon to highlight their own concerns regarding climate change and weather anomalies.
Outside the school, student speakers from the Henrietta Lacks Environmental Club took turns sharing their experiences with climate events in recent years, from the fires of September 2020, to the snowstorm that unexpectedly blanketed Clark County last week.
School administration helped to organize Friday’s event, highlighting the importance of youth voices in activism.
“It’s always a positive hearing from students on these issues,” said Craig Birnbach, a spokesperson for Evergreen Public Schools. “We give students the space to use their voice, as long as they’re doing it in a peaceful and organized manner.”
Club members hope their voices can be heard by local legislators as they push to make emission-reduction efforts and other environmental goals more of a priority in the coming years.
