Although I have traveled to the Pacific Northwest several times, I never made it east of the Cascade Range. My mission to write about the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s project to conserve and restore freshwater mussels to western streams provided the opportunity to venture into new parts of this area I have loved for so long. During my two-week trip, I drove east from Portland through the Columbia River Gorge and on to various parts of eastern Oregon and Washington. I ...