The notion of “reconditioning steelhead” might sound outlandish, even a bit ominous, at least when applied to an animal. Reconditioning is what’s done to prepare discarded electronics for resale, and the word carries connotations of recycling. How does one recycle a fish?

It turns out, though, to be the most accurate way to describe a unique practice being implemented in the headwaters of the Columbia Basin, to enable sea-going trout to spawn a second time without returning to the ocean in between. Only Indian tribes are doing this, although with cooperation from a couple of federal agencies. It started with the Yakama Tribe and has expanded to the Warm Springs, Colville and Nez Perce tribes...