Tag Archives: Lower Snake River dams
Call for tearing out lower Snake River dams gaining support in D.C. and WA state
For more than two decades Eastern Washington residents have heard proposals to tear out the lower Snake River dams, but only recently has the idea gotten bipartisan support in the nation’s capital, said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.,,, In the Puget Sound, he said he sees signs scattered along roadways with an X through the words “Snake River Dams.” That support from people who don’t understand what the dams mean to Eastern Washington is coupled with growing Congressional support and interest from the Biden administration, he said. Because the dams are federal infrastructure, their future is a federal issue. >click to read< 09:40
Opinion: Columbia Basin Collaborative anything but collaborative
The Columbia Basin Collaborative was introduced last year by the governors of the four Northwest states to help move the region past unending litigation around endangered salmon species. Our initial feedback was that the collaborative should expand beyond the four Northwest states, recognizing that salmon in Canada, Alaska, and Northern California have seen similar Chinook salmon declines the past 50 years by a shocking 65%. This finding was recently confirmed by the region’s Independent Science Advisory Board. Unfortunately, recent developments within the collaborative are causing concern. Instead of looking for new solutions, it seems the collaborative is essentially a recall effort aimed at removing the lower Snake River dams. >click to read< 10:22
Saving salmon is a ruse for breaching our dams
In the early 1990s, our small group were researching environmental claims that the lower Snake River dams were devastating salmon runs. At that time, we learned about East Sand Island, a man-made island in the estuary of the Columbia River. This island was formed from dredging deposits in 1983. And by 1984 Caspian terns, cormorants and gulls, which had colonized the island, were feasting on salmon smolts. We thought: “Wow, this is an easy fix. Tear out a man-made island and save millions of endangered fish.” The environmentalists beat us to the punch. They filed in federal court to protect the island and the birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Now we have the largest nesting colony of these non-endangered birds in the world on a man-made island. >click to read< 08:38
GOP congressman pitches plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest, Salmon
Could Congressman Mike Simpson, a Republican from a conservative district in eastern Idaho, have launched a concept that will forever alter life on the Columbia and Snake — and finally honor tribal treaty fishing rights in the Columbia Basin? His proposal includes removing the earthen berms adjacent to all four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams to let the river run free, to help save salmon from extinction, while spending billions of dollars to replace the benefits of the dams for agriculture, energy and transportation.,,, Simpson is careful to point out that what he has released is an overall concept that provides only broad spending targets for key initiatives. What he wants is a regional conversation about a new vision for the Northwest. What if we stopped debating whether the Lower Snake River dams are valuable, and recognize that they are, then figure out together how to replace those benefits? video, >click to read< 14:15
