The distribution of genetic and life history variation in chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and pink (O. gorbuscha) salmon in their southern range in North America is key to understanding the factors that limit their distribution and abundance there. These species have the widest natural spawning distributions for salmon across the Pacific rim, and both species are abundant north of the contiguous 48 United States. However, they become less plentiful and persistent south of Puget Sound. Chum salmon are documented to spawn as far south in North America as San Lorenzo River in California and 322 km upstream in the Sacramento River. At the turn of the 20th century chum salmon was the most abundant salmonid in streams between the Sacramento and Columbia rivers, and over a million chum salmon returned to the Columbia River as late as the 1950s, supporting a thriving commercial fishery in Tillamook Bay, Oregon. Pink salmon are less plentiful in the region but considerable numbers have run into the lower Columbia River in past decades, and they are occasionally observed in small numbers in the Trinity River, California. Currently, chum and pink salmon populations south of the Columbia River have all but vanished, and Columbia River chum salmon are now listed under the ESA as a threatened species. The demographics, genetics, and life history of these southern populations has not been well documented; this project is an attempt to collect available information on them. Tissues collected from Washington and Oregon adult spawners and carcasses between 2009 and present for DNA extraction.