Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Salmon Salvation

Can the Pacific Northwest -- indeed the nation -- fulfill Van Bergen's dream of wild salmon recovery? For the first time in decades, the answer may be yes. Many biologists have long been clear about the best way to achieve it: Remove four dams on the Lower Snake River so the fish can reach millions of acres of pristine habitat in central Idaho and northeast Oregon. For nearly 20 years, however, the powerful federal agencies now appearing before Redden -- including the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets the region's hydropower, and the Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers, which run some of the region's 200 major dams -- have strenuously avoided dam removal. They've spent $8 billion on almost every conceivable alternative with little consequent improvement in the fortunes of wild fish. And they've cultivated allies among inland ports, utilities, the barging industry, the vanishing aluminum industry and politicians, including Washington state's senior senator, Democrat Patty Murray. Some of those formidable obstacles to dam removal remain, but there are signs that the balance is tipping. President Barack Obama appears dedicated to science and transparency; a well-respected fisheries scientist is now in charge of a key federal agency; and new Northwestern politicians have signaled their willingness to help solve the salmon crisis. Some eastern Washington farmers and other dam beneficiaries appear willing to contemplate a future without the four Snake dams, and renewables in the region already produce as much electricity as these dams provide. A ban on commercial salmon fishing along the Oregon and California coasts for the second consecutive year will cost fishing communities hundreds of millions of dollars, adding urgency to salmon restoration. Most of all, Judge Redden is determined to make government agencies finally follow the Endangered Species Act...High Country News

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just a few corrections: the 4 Snake River dams do not block any habitat. You are thinking of the Hells Canyon Dams that are not part of the ESA issue. The 4 Snake Dams pass fish up and down at slightly higher rates than before the dams, and survival is about the same as the Fraser River in Canada that doesn't have dams.

California fishing? That is Sacramento River fish and the poor fishing is the result of ocean conditions where salmon put on 99.5% of their weight.

I think it is a fine position to want dams removed, but you should offer some words that are true. It doesn't serve anyones interest to fabricate a story to support a position.

Frank DuBois said...

Thanks for your comments.

Please understand I didn't "fabricate" anything. Those are all quotes from the article linked to at High Country News.