The Thane Tienson Memorial Fund for Salmon Conservation supports a lifelong mission that animated our late, long-serving founding board member: protecting salmon resources and the people who depend on them. Thane grew up in Astoria when it was truly a cannery town, and he became a renowned environmental lawyer and a champion of the resource and, generally, the little guy. He is known for winning several landmark federal court rulings that protect Columbia River salmon from  destructive dam operations. A brilliant litigator, he was also deeply devoted to the quest for conservation and fisheries solutions that genuinely are just and durable. Over nearly three decades of service on the board of the National Fisheries Conservation Center, Thane consistently kept us true to our commitment to collaborative problem-solving. This fund exists to carry on Thane’s lifelong service to healthy salmon resources and communities who depend on them. The fund’s first project, jointly undertaken with the Julia Sanders Memorial Fund for Community Solutions, is an assessment of how emerging genetic tools can help to strengthen resilience of Chinook salmon resources and the fisheries they support, in the face of rising climate pressures that have been especially challenging for Chinook