Episode 37: Reclaiming Bear River

Episode Location

Additional Resources

Topics

Over 150 years after suffering the worst massacre in U.S. history, the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has purchased their ancestral homeland — called Wuda Ogwa, or Bear River — with a vision to return it back to nature.

The Bear River was once a lush area with wetlands, hot springs, and abundant wildlife, but years of agriculture and irrigation have degraded the landscape. Brad Parry, the Tribe’s Vice Chairman, has recruited a dedicated team of tribal members, experts, and volunteers to return the site to its former glory.

With the help of modern technology and native knowledge, the team will break the water free from colonial canals, remove hundreds of thousands of invasive trees, and replant the native species necessary to stabilize the riverbank and attract local wildlife. As the ecosystem of the Bear River rebounds, it provides the threatened Tribe a place to finally practice their traditions and teach their language to the next generation.

Ask a Question

The beauty of the Western United States inspired the first national parks.

January 14, 2025

The History of Conservation in the Western United States

About 21.5 million acres of the Western United States are nationally protected, and thousands are being managed or co-managed by Native American tribes reclaiming ancestral relationships with native plants and animals. It’s no surprise, then, that Wild Hope hit a rich vein of conservation stories grounded in the West.

August 28, 2023

Episode 5: The Beautiful Undammed

A century-long campaign to take down the Elwha River dams climaxed in 2011with the largest dam removal project in history. Now, a decade later, Native American scientists and colleagues are chronicling an inspiring story of ecological rebirth.

August 18, 2023

By Nala Rogers

Half of U.S. Wetlands Have Disappeared. Now Conservationists are Fighting to Get Them Back.

Wetlands protect coastlines, replenish drinking water, and may even combat climate change.

An artist's illustration of a rewilded area, with trees, flowers, grasses, a pond, and deer.

October 14, 2023

Rewilding

Rewilding initiatives are growing in popularity in places with degraded or disturbed landscapes whose ecosystems have lost many of their endemic species.

August 7, 2023

Episode 2: Beaver Fever

Eurasian beavers were driven extinct in Britain centuries ago. But now these preeminent ecosystem engineers are back—charming many Britons, perturbing others, and all the while stimulating a healthy debate about whether the island nation is ready to embrace a wilder future.

August 1, 2023

Working together to bring back beavers

Beavers are a wonder to behold. They are ecosystem engineers–able to modify their habitats and change landscapes in ways that cultivate biodiversity and create wetlands. That ability makes them keystone species–they have an outsize influence on their ecosystems and the species they live with. But as a species, they also need help and protection, as […]