Category Archive: Salmon River Rafting

1. Internal Hydrology: Why You’re More Watershed Than Human

   April 20, 2026 7:43 pm Comments Off on Internal Hydrology: Why You’re More Watershed Than Human

   By Elle Olsztyn

   In yoga, we speak of Nadis—the thousands of invisible channels through which Prana (life force) pulses. But you don’t need a yoga mat to visualize them. If you look at a river system from an aerial view, a diagram of the Earth’s circulatory system appears. Our bodies are 60% water; our veins, nerves, and energy channels follow a similar braided cartography as a free-flowing river.

   But here’s the thing: It isn’t until you spend six days on the Salmon River—feeling into the current’s rhythmic lullaby or weighted pull of the oars—that you realize you aren’t just traveling through a watershed. You are one.

   As a lover of movement and the ancestral wisdom of our own physiology, I’ve been recently traveling the world exploring traditional teachings that reconnect us to our restorative nature. Through these travels, my relationship to river guiding continues to evolve. I’ve realized that the “dams” we encounter in rivers—stagnation, blockages, and rigid walls—mirror the ones we build inside our own bodies. When we understand a little about our own Internal Hydrology, we can trade “muscling” our way through life for the fluid, restorative power of the current.

   The Thalweg: The Spine as the Central Channel

   In hydrology, the Main Channel is the heart of the system. It’s the primary river vein that dictates the health of every tributary and eddy downstream. Within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the Main Salmon River surges through a deep canyon. Amidst the center of that current is the Thalweg, where the water is calmest and most powerful. However, if this main channel becomes blocked, the entire ecosystem stalls.

   In your body, that Main Channel is your spine—but more specifically, it is your internal Thalweg.

   In the yogic tradition, this is the Sushumna Nadi. Physically, it corresponds to your central nervous system and is the primary current through which your life force flows from tailbone to crown. Just as a river guide inspects the current to find that one line of maximum efficiency and depth, we can explore such current in own bodies.

   Alignment vs. Stagnation

   Drawing from the work of my teacher, Simon Borg-Olivier, and his Yoga Synergy system, I’ve learned that “the banks” (our bones and alignment) determine the health of the “current” (our blood and energy).

   eMost of us have become “Modern-Day Statue People”—accustomed to chairs, we either sit with lower backs cemented like a concrete dam or slump like a collapsing cutbank. But a rigid or collapsed spine is a dammed river. It creates a logjam of tension in your neck and shoulders and blocks the flow of information through your nerves. In contrast, when this channel is free-flowing, your reactions are faster, your breath slower, and your nervous system is resilient enough to navigate the big water and “Redside” rapids of life without snapping.

   Micro-Ritual: Become the Watershed

   On your next river trip, I invite you to explore the living ecosystem that is YOU. While sitting on the raft or in your kayak, notice the way the river’s current ungulates and swirls. When the water turns glassy, try this:

   • The Spinal Ripple: Instead of sitting like a statue, imagine a gentle ripple moving from your tailbone to the crown of your head.
   • The Riffle Sync: Synchronize your wiggling toes and waving fingers to the riffles in the current. Imagine the blood reaching the furthest “tributaries” of your extremities.
   • Find Extension: Imagine a small wave moving through your vertebrae. Can you find a little more space? A little more extension?

   By bringing this gentle consciousness to your eyes, jaw, and shoulders, we practice a state of fluid presence. This is where your body finally begins to process and flush the stress you carried with you from the outer world.

   Softening your spine doesn’t mean losing your strength; it means finding the same kind of power a river has—power that comes from momentum and structure, not from being a wall.

2. Off Beat Interview Series with Clark

   March 27, 2026 9:51 pm Comments Off on Off Beat Interview Series with Clark

   Tell us a little about yourself! Where did you grow up?

   I’m from Corvallis, OR, which sits on the Willamette River, another tributary of the Columbia.

   How did you find your way to the river?

   I was lucky to grow up with the river– my parents had both guided in past lives and since we had our own raft, multiday rafting trips were the norm for our family vacations. I started guiding on the Lower Salmon and Snake River in Hells Canyon to help pay my way through college, and multiday guiding has been a part of my life ever since.

   If you could be a river super hero, what would you be?

   Kickflip Man– maybe then I could finally figure out how to properly kickflip a damn kayak!

   What is your favorite dress up theme?

   Definitely Lucha Libre

   What is your ‘go to’ crazy hat night creation?

   Not gonna lie I’m confused by this questions

   What brought you to Canyons?

   Their stellar reputation for quality and guide care, an emphasis on kayaking, the opportunity to “turn the corner” and run a 12-day river trip on the Middle AND Main, and a mutual goal of pushing the needle to diversify the kinds of people that get to access these rivers.

   

   How many years have you worked here?

   A whopping 1.0

   What is your favorite thing about Canyons?

   The opportunity to share world-class rivers with guests I admire and with a crew and company that is dedicatedly professional.

   If you could describe Canyons in 3 words?

   Dedicated, Fortunate, Flaring

   When you hear the word Idaho, what comes to mind?

   Keeping Idaho Proud!

   What are your top three favorite camps?

   Depends on the season,,, but I adore Upper Marble Camp on the Middle Fork. Also on the MF, Ship Island sets up some awesome pacing and sits you directly in the middle of impassable canyon. I am a big fan of Warren Creek on the main, the spring wildflowers on the ridgeline hike above camp were a huge highlight of my time with Canyons in 2026.

   Your favorite hike?

   Since I just mentioned Warren Creek I’ll have to go with Veil Falls– it remains one of the most powerful places I’ve ever experienced.

   Top three favorite rapids?

   Also depends on the season. On the Main I love Black Creek and Chittam. On the Middle outside of Impassable Canyon I love the screwiness of Pistol Creek at higher water.

   Currently what is your nemesis rapid?

   More of a teacher than a nemesis but definitely the hole in Marble on the Middle Fork. It remains the only place I have ever flipped a (paddle) raft, humbling!

   What river do you want to run that you haven’t yet?

   Río Marañón in Peru! It’s the headwaters of the Amazon, plunges from the mountains into the jungle in a huge canyon. The lower stretches are effectively stateless territories still controlled by the Awajún people, so you need to ask the villages for safe passage. I would love to source-to-sea the Amazon someday, although the odds are not in your favor.

   What do you consider a ‘real’ job?

   Any job that is not bullshit.

   If you could only have one kayak in your quiver, what would it be and why?

   Would naturally be a half slice… probably the Antix 3.0.

   What is your favorite thing to cook on the river?

   Our big ol’ meat log!

   If you could take a musician or band down the river today, who would it be?

   I think Esther Rose would be a great fit on either of the rivers we run.

   What is your most memorable swim in a river?

   Swam Rainy Falls on the Rogue River when I was 14… Far too much downtime, I was in animal panic, but it taught me respect for the power of the water.

   What is one of your river rituals or superstitions?

   I got to spend a few weeks last winter in Wallmapu (South-central Chile) working with Mapuche Pehuenche people who are river activists. One of the biggest teachings for me was the way they respectfully greet the river and its resident Ngen (spirits) before entering the water. This concept of greeting/asking for safe passage of the water has shown up in various forms in many of the Indigenous cultural traditions I’ve gotten to spend time in place with and one I’ve incorporated into the way I approach the river. The last time I didn’t express gratitude and ask permission to the water (on the White Salmon river), I swam.

   What is your most valued non river related item that you bring with you on every trip?

   My journal.

   What is your favorite groover spot?

   Any spot that doesn’t have a big line when I’ve had my second cup of coffee and am doing the groover dance!

3. Blogs are Reflections from a Salmon River SUP Adventure

   March 5, 2026 2:52 am Comments Off on Blogs are Reflections from a Salmon River SUP Adventure

   Last fall, my wife, Toria, and I completed the first known self-support stand up paddleboard descent of the entire Salmon River. We launched from Stanley on October 3rd. 398 miles later, on October 27, we made it to Heller Bar on the Snake River. The journey was an incredible adventure, and definitely one of the best months of my life. There’s something about being outside, away from your daily life, that allows you to take a step back and reflect on what you are doing. Here are a few of my reflections from a month spent on the Salmon River:

   The Salmon River is worth fighting for. I’ve long known the Salmon River was special but seeing it from its start to finish made me fall even more in love with it. River protection is an ongoing fight- and one that is worth fighting.

   You can find and build routine anywhere. 2025 was an incredible year for me but one that lacked a lot of routine. The last place I thought I would find routine was on a fall whitewater SUP expedition and yet, there it was! It was a much needed lesson that just because each week doesn’t look the same doesn’t mean that good routines can’t be developed.

   The vast majority of people in the world are friendly and want the best for others. When we pushed off of the shore in Stanley, I was prepared for a month of minimal social interaction with anyone except for Toria. I was so wrong! We interacted with people all over: from steelheaders along the river corridor, to miners in bars, to van lifers in gas stations, to e-bikers in hot springs. Almost every person that we met was kind to us and many offered to try to help us in various ways, from offering rides, materials, or their homes. It was a much needed reminder that most people in the world are overwhelmingly good, even when people try to make us feel divided.

   Sleep is good. Sleep has never been a forte of mine but it turns out when you paddle all day and it gets dark and cold early that getting into your sleeping bag is really nice! I slept more on our trip than I think I have in my whole adult life and it was awesome.

   The SUP is actually a really great expedition craft. People were always stunned that we were able to carry everything that we needed on our SUPs. And while it wasn’t quite as deluxe as a rafting trip we definitely carried luxuries such as cheese, multiple stoves, my Surfer’s Journal magazine, and the things to make a chocolate olive oil cake. The weight on the boards actually made it easier to punch through big rapids and we were able to maneuver well through all of the exposed rocks in the low water.

   It takes a long time to develop the skills to pull off something big. Five years ago, I was totally unprepared to do this trip. And while lots of people still thought what we did was pretty out there, it felt totally within the realm of what we were capable of. There were lots of skills that went into it, from running whitewater, to trip planning for a long expedition, to outdoor cooking, to staying warm in cold conditions, to gear repair and more. If you’ve got a trip that you dream about doing but aren’t capable of doing yet, keep working on all of the different parts of it. Someday you’ll be able to make it happen!

4. Threats to the Salmon River – Stibnite Mine

   March 18, 2026 3:05 am Comments Off on Threats to the Salmon River – Stibnite Mine

   The Salmon River has been special to me ever since my first trip down it in 2013. There is something magical about every single run I’ve taken down it. I’ve always felt compelled to help protect it- it’s one of the main reasons I love river guiding. I feel like when we are able to share the river with others they often become stewards and guardians of it. But on this trip I felt both an urgency and an outrage about the river that I had never felt so strongly before.

   While there are lots of threats to the river, the one that I have thought about the most since our trip is the Stibnite Gold Mine (SGM) project on the South Fork of the Salmon River. The SGM is an open-pit gold, silver, and antimony mine along with an ore-processing facility. Perpetua Resources, the gold mining company behind this project, says that this project will provide antimony to the U.S. military. While antimony is a key mineral for a range of military products, Perpetua Resources themselves have admitted that only around 10% of the antimony mined at the SGM will be headed to the military due to the lower grade antimony present at the site. Other mining projects in the western U.S. contain higher grade antimony that the military can more easily use.

   In many ways, the presence of antimony at the SGM site is what is allowing Perpetua Resources to push forward with its main goal: mining gold. Jon Cherry, the CEO of Perpetua Resources, recently said on the podcast Mining Stock Daily that “Antimony is the enabler because of the government’s support. The economics are driven all by the gold. Our mine plan is based on gold.” While I do think that lots of people could be convinced that the mining of antimony is important for national security, it’s hard to imagine many people being willing to permanently damage public land and water so that investors in a gold mining company to get rich. To add insult to injury, the Mining Law of 1872 (yup, we still use that) exempts companies from paying royalties on gold mined from public lands. So while the government receives a some money when things such as oil and gas are mined on public lands, there would be no royalties on the predicted $18 billion of gold that would come out of the ground.

   In the best case scenario, the SGM would wreak havoc on public lands, waters, and health. The proposed project would destroy over 20% of critical habitat for threatened chinook salmon and bull trout in the project area. The water temperature is also projected to rise to lethal levels for these fish. The project also violates Indigenous treaty rights and would permanently scar thousands of acres of public land in the headwaters of the South Fork of the Salmon River. Contamination of the water from arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals would also likely occur.

   In a worst case scenario with a spill, water contaminated with cyanide and other pollutants would flow downriver, onto the Main Salmon, Snake, and Columbia Rivers. The risk of a spill in open-pit cyanide leach mining is so real that the practice has been banned in neighboring Montana since 1998.

   In the end, river conservation isn’t something that we will someday just achieve. These special places will likely need us to keep advocating for them in perpetuity. And while we definitely need mines here in the U.S., it doesn’t mean that every mine is the right mine. While the public comment period for the Stibnite Gold Mine project is currently closed, there are lots of organizations continuing to work to stop this project through other methods. The list below is in no way exhaustive- these are just some of the organizations that I know that are working on this project. If you feel passionate about the Salmon River, please consider donating to one of these organizations so that they can continue fighting to protect this place that we love.

   Idaho Conservation League

   Idaho Rivers United

   Save the South Fork Salmon

5. Off Beat Interview Series with Olivia

   February 25, 2026 2:46 am Comments Off on Off Beat Interview Series with Olivia

   Tell us a little about yourself! Where did you grow up?

   OThis is always such a hard question for me. I lived in Reno, NV until I was six years old and after that my family moved every year. I can’t even pick a region as we lived in the east, the middle and the west of the U.S. My family was pretty uprooted and We found home in each other.

   How did you find your way to the river?

   I moved to McCall when I was 19 years old and made friends who took me rafting on the day stretch in Riggins. My first time rafting was also my first experience in a hardshell kayak. It was exhilarating; when I flipped upside down, I struggled to find my pull tab, panicked, and ended up kicking myself out of the kayak. When I resurfaced and was pulled into the nearby raft, I felt a deep love for the river and this overwhelming feeling of belonging.

   A few months later, I was called back home—at the time, Berkeley, CA—because my mom had been diagnosed with colon cancer. I wanted to be with her as she navigated the early stages of her illness. I quickly realized I needed an outlet for my physical and emotional energy, so on weekends, I drove three hours from Berkeley to Coloma to volunteer with a non-profit rafting company offering adaptive whitewater adventures. To volunteer, I needed to attend guide school, so the South Fork of the American River became the place where I learned to paddle, guide and read water.

   Several months later, I moved back to Idaho and fell deeply in love with the Salmon River, where I learned to kayak, row boats, and connect with water. It was also on a sandy beach of the Salmon where I married my now-husband. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to spend time in, on, and with the magnificent Salmon River.

   If you could be a river super hero, what would you be?

   If I could be a river super hero, I would be ‘Fierce Forager’. She has kevlar skin and knows information about every mushroom she comes across.

   What is your favorite dress up theme?

   I LOVE to dress up! It is so hard to pick a theme and honestly I am at my best when I just layer my entire costume box onto myself but for the sake of the question I’ll say Drag Disco Inferno!

   What is your ‘go to’ crazy hat night creation?

   I have never had a crazy hat night but it sounds fun! If this is a river tradition then I can see myself weaving natural items into a beer box so that they stick out at the top, then I would stake one or two beer cans onto a couple sticks that I fastened to the box, I would secure this to my head using webbing or some bandanas.

   What brought you to Canyons?

   I told my husband last year that if Canyons didn’t hire me I would stop guiding. He might have enjoyed a bit of the latter but here I am! Canyons attracted me because of its loving, inclusive culture where people are celebrated for who they are! Canyons is also a company that stewards the places we work and play by moving and acting intentionally. So far I have guided one trip with Canyons and all I can say is it feels like home.

   How many years have you worked here?

   I guided one trip in 2025 so 2026 will be my first full season working for Canyons!

   What is your favorite thing about Canyons?

   My favorite thing about Canyons is the feeling I get when I am in the shop looking at the wall of pictures in the office.

   If you could describe Canyons in 3 words?

   Rainbow ducky adventure

   When you hear the word Idaho, what comes to mind?

   Wilderness, solitude, water

   What are your top three favorite camps?

   Indian Creek on the Main salmon, Marble Creek Right on the Middle, Cradle on the Middle

   Your favorite hike?

   I love hiking to the yew grove from Indian creek.

   Top three favorite rapids?

   Devil’s tooth at low water, Cramer, Rubber. I am just listing rapids that are vivid in my memory. I think this might change as I spend more time on these rivers.

   Currently what is your nemesis rapid?

   Powerhouse if you can believe it! I swam there in october and ripped my gasket so I had to wrap my wrist in duct tape every morning for 6 days.

   What river do you want to run that you haven’t yet?

   The list is huge but I’ll say The Grand Canyon for starters

   What do you consider a ‘real’ job?

   A ‘real’ job is one that you get paid to do. I like to keep it real at my jobs by forming connections with the people and places around me.

   If you could only have one kayak in your quiver, what would it be and why?

   It would be my jackson all star. Simply because I already own it and out of all of my boats it challenges me the most. Plus I love to surf peace wave and it is a very fun boat on that wave.

   What is your favorite thing to cook on the river?

   Any dutch oven dessert

   If you could take a musician or band down the river today, who would it be?

   Regina Spektor or Fred Armisen because he would find a way to bring his drums and it would be hilarious.

   What is your most memorable swim in a river?

   I swam twice a few years ago when I was kayaking the outlet of upper payette lake. It is a moving creek with rocks and logs everywhere and I wasn’t ready for the continuous nature of it but boy did I think I had it. I swam once and it was b-u-m-p-y, I was feeling a little banged up on my bum but I felt ready to get back in my boat. I got back in my boat and got pushed on this rock that was sticking out of the water. I could tell I was going over so I stupidly threw my paddle and tried to push off of the rock so it would let me go. I went upside down, swam, hit a ton of rocks and then made it to shore with my boat. My buddy and my husband tag teamed the rescue and my boat was pulled to shore but the nose was totally punched in. Boiling water fixed it but I hold that swim vividly in my memory because I really thought I was going to get hung up in a strainer and drown and I was incredibly humbled.

   What is one of your river rituals or superstitions?

   Remember to look up!

   What is your most valued non river related item that you bring with you on every trip?

   Cotton socks

   What is your favorite groover spot?

   Anywhere, say good morning to down river traffic. I do really like the groover spot at California though and you can’t wave to the river from there…

6. Heart-Leaf Arnica

   January 29, 2026 6:17 am Comments Off on Heart-Leaf Arnica

   There is perhaps nothing on shore that delights me more than a medicinal plant, and the Salmon River drainage is absolutely teeming with natural medicine. There are Cottonwood trees and Ponderosa pines, there is Serviceberry and Rabbitbrush, there is Syringa and Fireweed. And there is Heart-leaf Arnica.Arnica is a delight. It is among the first wildflowers to appear after the snowmelt—after the edible Glacier Lily and alongside the edible and medicinal Arrowleaf Balsamroot. Its yearly bloom can show itself as early as April at lower elevations and, in high alpine places, linger into late summer. The flowers are fragrant but not floral; they smell like herbal medicine.

   Though, don’t let yourself be confused. There are several species of Arnica, not all of which are traditionally used in the same way. Heart-leaf Arnica is easily recognized by its heart-shaped basal leaves and its distinct medicinal scent, which becomes apparent when the flowers are handled.

   Heart-leaf Arnica is intended for external use only, and even then its potent medicine can be an irritant for sensitive skin. It should not be applied to broken skin. Traditionally, it is used as an anti-inflammatory: the flower heads can be gently mashed into oil, and that oil applied to bruises and to inflamed joints or muscles.

   And if you’re ever on the river with me, Auri East, during a Heart-leaf Arnica harvest, I’ll take you along. It is, of course, the safest and best way to learn old medicine—through careful attention, proper identification, and time spent in the place itself.

   Written by: Auri East
   Source: Plant First Aid Along the Salmon River by Darcy Williamson

7. Daisy Tappan: An Inspiration and Example

   January 17, 2026 4:40 pm Comments Off on Daisy Tappan: An Inspiration and Example

   Daisy Erma Paulsen Tappan (1908-1984) is a fabulous example of an impressive person who simply happened to be a woman. There are tales of her chasing off bears who tried to eat her orchard and rolling cigarettes one-handed. When she and her husband got pushed off Tappan Ranch at Grouse Creek on the Middle Fork of the Salmon, she became one of the two year-round mail deliverers out of Yellow Pine. She ran a dogsled, hauling her kids and mail all around some of Idaho’s most rugged and frigid country.And it seems, she still knew a good time when she saw one. Daisy Tappan would take her two boys over 40 miles upstream to Sheepeater Hot Springs so they could splash around in a pool made by some industrious beavers. Where did she find the time?One of the many things I love about being out in the Salmon river drainage is how little biological sex matters out there. Obviously, some of us care a lot, but in the end, what we’re capable of takes the cake. As river guides, can we catch an eddy? Can we cook your dinner before the sun goes down? Can we right a flipped raft? Can we save an errant ducky or woo a rattlesnake out of camp? It’s so apparent that that is what really matters. Daisy Tappan got it, and thank goodness we do, too.

   Written by: Auri East
   Source: The Yellow Pine Times

8. Married on the Main

   October 15, 2025 9:02 pm Comments Off on Married on the Main

   When I proposed to Toria a year and a half ago, we had been talking about getting married for years. We had just skied a couloir in the Sierra and had the beautiful basin to ourselves (except for one chatty pika). We immediately knew how we wanted to get married- on a river trip!

   We wanted to get married on the Main Salmon, a river that is really special to us and felt approachable for our family and friends who had never been on a river trip before. The idea of spending a week with our closest friends and family, away from the distractions of the modern world, felt perfect.

   The day before the launch the crew gathered at our house. Given our friend group, there were some delays but we finally set out for Corn Creek in a caravan of cars. We snagged pizza in Salmon, rigged up the boats, and tucked into our sleeping bags.

   The next day, we launched and headed down river. We found roses floating alongside us, which felt like a good omen for the wedding. The Big Bear Fire was actively burning but when we camped at Chukhar Beach almost directly across from the fire, we somehow had a fairly smoke-free evening. Competitive games of spikeball, strong margaritas and tasty fajitas set the tone for our incredible week ahead.

   

   

   

   

   
   

   Day two we floated through the fire. Many people on the trip had never seen an actively burning wildfire and were enthralled. The fire was burning fairly slowly at that point, harkening back to the low intensity fires that once occurred frequently throughout the west. We held our ‘rehearsal’ at Lower Pine Bar Camp and nervously tucked into bed for the night.

   We woke up on the day of the wedding and walked up to Yellow Pine Bar. Sue, knowing that we were coming, had baked delicious cakes in her solar oven. She and Greg showed people around the property. My mom’s eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the size of Sue’s cabbages (the trick is to rotate them a quarter turn every once in a while).

   We floated through the rapids en route to our wedding destination, Rhett Creek. Upon arrival, the team sprung into action! Some people were in charge of setting up the ceremony site, others the banquet table, other decorations from the beach and still others on food prep. After a heated game of Kuub and some swims in the eddy, it was time to put on our river formal attire. Toria looked gorgeous in her white dress and we proceeded to the beach to eat some charcuterie and drink aperol spritzes before the ceremony.

   Our dear friend, Nancy, officiated and while I knew that she would do an amazing job with it, nothing could have prepared me for how incredible it would actually be. I laughed, I cried, and I got married! After the ceremony, we toasted champagne and took our mini raft for a few laps around the eddy.

   For dinner, we ate fresh pasta with a lemon morel cream sauce (harvested from the Sawtooths a few months prior). We adapted our favorite chocolate olive oil cake recipe into a dutch oven dessert and then danced the night away. One highlight of the night was everyone running into the eddy for a spontaneous group swim.

   The next morning, we slowly woke up and started heading towards Buckskin Bill’s. The group dressed up as Buckskin and everyone watched the video (mandated by me- if you haven’t seen it, stop reading this blog post and get back on the river).

   After camping at Warren, we started paddling for our last full day on the river. We paddled through a rainstorm but as soon as we arrived at California, the weather started to turn. Soon, it was a bright sunny day and people played in the eddy. We donned costumes and received paper plate awards.

   We woke up on the last day sad for it to be over but grateful for how incredible the trip had been. For anyone thinking that they might want to get married on the river, go for it. I can’t think of a better way to marry the person you love.

   Annie DeAngelo, Team Canyons
   Photos by Joshua Murdock

9. Who is Frank Church and what is a River of No Return Wilderness?

   May 20, 2025 3:13 pm Comments Off on Who is Frank Church and what is a River of No Return Wilderness?

   Author: Ian Connolly

   For those of us born elsewhere or sometime in the last three decades, we might not know a lot about how Idaho came to have so much protected land, and if we didn’t grow up here, then we almost certainly never learned about the Democrat from Boise that championed wild places. It turns out that the wilderness area in Central Idaho that protects the watersheds of the Middle Fork and Main Salmon, and all protected wilderness areas, almost never came to be. This is how a Democrat from Idaho changed the course of river and land conservation forever.

   Born in Boise, Idaho in 1924, Frank Church was the descendant of gold prospectors that moved to Idaho in the 1860s. As a boy, he fell in love with Idaho’s outdoors during the frequent trips that his father took him on. A co-owner of a sporting goods store, Church’s father raised Frank to hike, fish, and hunt throughout Idaho. His inspiration to become a senator came when he was a boy from William Borah, the prominent Idaho Republican who was known for his desire to bring progressive values into the conservative party during the New Deal Era.

   Frank Church’s undergraduate degree at Stanford was interrupted by his enrollment in the U.S. Army when he was 18, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He’d later return to Stanford and receive his law degree, but before that, he cemented his personal connection to the Salmon River canyon by marrying his wife at the Robinson Bar Ranch in June of 1947. That storied ranch, once a stopover on the stagecoach between Challis and Stanley, became a treasured home for Frank and his wife Bethine. At 32, Frank was elected to the U.S. Senate as a democrat, where he served four terms and remains Idaho’s last democratic senator.

   Once in Congress, Frank Church brought his love for the wildest parts of Idaho to Washington D.C. He carried the torch, lit by other Western senators before him, as the floor sponsor of the Wilderness Act – a deeply controversial piece of legislation that was narrowly passed after eight years of lobbying. If this wasn’t enough, Frank then drafted the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which was passed by Congress in 1968 and designated both the Main Salmon and the Middle Fork as Wild and Scenic.

   In 1980, his final year in Congress, Frank Church introduced the legislation that would create the Central Idaho Wilderness. At 2.36 million acres, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest protected wilderness outside of Alaska. The name of the area was amended to Include Frank’s name in 1984, four weeks before he died of Pancreatic Cancer. He was 59 years old. In addition to central Idaho, Frank was instrumental in the creation of the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area and the Sawtooth Wilderness and National Recreation area, which protected the area surrounding the Robinson Bar Ranch.

   Over the course of his remarkable career, there were several pivotal moments that created the opportunity for Frank to continue his advocacy on behalf of Idaho’s wilderness and rivers. The first was when Frank first enrolled in law school. He experienced what he thought was back pain, but was diagnosed with testicular cancer and given a terminal prognosis at age 21. Miraculously, he was able to receive treatment that saved his life. The next key moment occurred during his reelection in 1962 when he was opposed by every major interest group in the state of Idaho because of his support for the Wilderness Act. On the eve of the election, it appeared that he would lose and the Act would never be passed. The next day, he won the election and two years later the Act was finally passed.

   This is not all to say that he was the perfect advocate. He was indeed a deeply privileged white Man from Idaho, which no doubt contributed to his success. He also failed to meaningfully consult with Tribal nations in Idaho, and there are many valid criticisms of the wilderness conservation model. But, at a time when many white men like him were selling out to business interests and neoliberalism, Frank’s belief in the power of wild places set him apart.

   Ultimately, what propelled Frank Church’s advocacy for wild places was his deep personal connection to the rivers and lands of Central Idaho. Frank was a Middle Fork boater, and that river was a place he went to to connect with parts of himself that were not otherwise accessible in Washington or at Stanford. He believed in the spiritual connection that we hold to place, and he risked his career for it, knowing it was an obligation to protect the earth for the sake of those yet to come.