It all began with newspaper headline: "Will 100 lab salmon ever return to the Elwha?"

Since 2010, filmmaker Jason Jaacks has traversed up and down the Elwha River watershed, interviewing tribal elders, biologists, and fishermen. In 2012, he led a source-to-sea expedition down the Elwha as a National Geographic Explorer. Aerial support was provided by LightHawk.

Return to Elwha was spawned at Graduate School of Journalism at University of California at Berkeley. The project was supported by PBS POV. and Tribeca Film Institute.

Return to Elwha was handbuilt in California and produced by SplitFrame Media.