We are a place-based financial intermediary that works across the US and Canada to support Indigenous and community-led initiatives that restore ecosystems, strengthen self determination, revitalize local economies.
We help communities access the capital they need to restore land, strengthen local economies, and care for what sustain them, over the long term.
Across all the watersheds where migratory Pacific salmon live—communities are doing the hard work of restoration, stewardship, and cultural renewal. We work alongside communities to define shared outcomes, align capital, and scale what works. We design and steward financial tools that:
The Salmon Nation bioregion is where we focus our work—defined by the traditional extent of migratory Pacific salmon—from the Salinas River in California through British Columbia, to the North Slope of Alaska.
Our name, Salmon Returns, reflects the role salmon play in holding whole systems together. They connect rural and urban, ocean and headwaters, traditional knowledge and western science, community stewardship and public systems—and remind us that lasting prosperity depends on giving back to the places that sustain us.
That’s why we work at the scale of watersheds, where ecological health, cultural continuity, and economic resilience are inseparable.
With decades of experience spanning climate finance, environmental conservation, Indigenous governance, and community wealth building—we blend institutional fluency with grassroots wisdom.
Together, our team brings decades of experience mobilizing more than $200 million for ecological and cultural regeneration. We’ve shaped landmark agreements like the Great Bear Rainforest, developed breakthrough financial instruments such as the first fossil-fuel-free ETF (Change Finance), launched place-based initiatives through Ecotrust and Salmon Nation Trust, and led Indigenous power-building through organizations including Na’ah Illahee Fund and NDN Collective.
We are guided by a trusted circle of wisdom keepers, change-makers, and ceremony holders whose cross-sector expertise have guided billions of dollars in capital and catalyzed innovation and collaboration across cultures, communities, and generations.
"Being alongside Salmon Returns, actively weaving lands, waters, peoples, and new economic futures—is profoundly inspiring. In a time when the climate crisis can feel overwhelming, the work and relationships Salmon Returns convenes offer real hope in our collective strength as protectors of this planet, walking in solidarity with all our relations.”
“NDN Fund is eager to participate in this groundbreaking effort. Our missions to unlock capital in Indigenous communities will align and synergistically create new streams of capital to transform our communities.”
“Salmon Returns swims upstream against extraction, returning true wealth to land, water, and community — guided by seasoned hands and unseen rivers of belonging, to help revitalize the nature state that is Salmon Nation.”
“Sophisticated investors are actively seeking systemic, place-based solutions—Salmon Returns is delivering exactly that. By investing in bioregional relationships, they offer one of the most effective pathways to regeneration, equity, and long-term planetary health, backed by years of trusted experience and commitment.”
