Salmon, the Locks, and the Ship Canal

Street Smart Naturalist · Apr 16, 2026 · 8m

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of launching my newest book, Seattle’s Locks and Ship Canal: A History and Guide. Written with my friend and Executive Director of HistoryLink.org, Jennifer Ott, the book tells the stories of one of the most pivotal landscape changes in Seattle history. It is published by the University of Washington Press and is an edited and updated version of our previous book Waterway: The Story of Seattle’s Locks and Ship Canal, which came out in 2017, to honor the centennial of the opening of the locks.

The new edition is smaller, has fewer words, and not as many…