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Date: 8/10/2026
Subject: BADGER FORUM: Laliik: Sacred Mountain in Bureaucratic Quagmire
From: Columbia Basin Badger Club


Our iconic Rattlesnake Mountain is known as Laliik to Native Americans, for whom the mountain has been sacred for millennia.  The oft repeated and dubious local claim that it's the tallest treeless mountain neglects the true significance of its geology and ecology.  Its incorporation into the Hanford Site in 1943 initiated a complex history of federal involvement, culminating in its current and persistent off-limits status.   

This forum will describe the mountain's history, geology, ecology, and cultural significance and seek to understand perspectives on possible futures for one of the region's treasures.

 
 

Phil Rigdon is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and has served as the Superintendent of their Department of Natural Resources since 2005.

Robert Franklin is a public and academic historian who focuses on the history of the Hanford Site. Since 2015 he has served as the archivist and historian for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Collection.

Dr. Robert Bass is the President and Board Member of the Friends of Badger Mountain whose mission is the preservation and stewardship of our local the ridges for the benefit of the community and the environment.
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