The massive and diverse Columbia River basin is an interconnected entity that travels 1200 miles across seven states and one Canadian province and through the traditional territories of dozens of Indigenous Nations. The river sustains a watershed the size of France, serving widely distinct landscapes and human cultures.

In BIG RIVER, award-winning photographer David Moskowitz and writer Eileen Delehanty Pearkes illuminate the natural history,  hydrogeology, beauty, and human activity on the Columbia River, while also highlighting the challenges facing the region and the people working on sustainable solutions. The watershed encompasses immense ecological, cultural, and economic value, the benefits of which its inhabitants have wrangled over for centuries. As we come to terms with the unsustainable nature of our relationship with this watershed, and local Indigenous nations renew their efforts to steward their territories, we have reached an inflection point.  Big River explores the Columbia River watershed as one living, interdependent entity that embraces a broad cultural and ecological perspective.

The culmination of Moskowitz’s many years of photographing the river and exploring its watershed and Pearkes’ decades of research, Big River seeks a path forward for the Columbia River watershed, balancing the demands around water, salmon, agriculture, energy, and climate with the fundamental need for a sustainable living river.