Bust the dams, save the salmon
Obama administration has a chance to
end series of flawed recovery plans
The Buffalo News Editorial, August 10, 2009
This year’s change of federal administrations has changed many things, and now it has a chance to change one more: the fate of a far-away fish.
By Friday, the Obama administration has to tell a federal court whether it will support a flawed Bush administration plan or work with a wide range of Pacific Northwest interests to save that fish, an economy and a way of life. The federal government, so far, keeps coming up with inadequate remediation plans that are driving some species of salmon toward extinction.
This fight has been going on for more than a decade, and it should end. Sit down with the stakeholders—beers optional.
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 Dam decision poses test for Obama team
Guest Opinion by Charles Wilkinson, August 8th, 2009
On Friday, we will learn a lot about the Obama administration's asserted commitment to science and law on environmental matters. The proving ground is in Washington and Idaho on the lower Snake River, the Columbia's largest tributary, where four dams and their reservoirs are salmon killers. U.S. District Judge James Redden, weary from years of evasion by the National Marine Fisheries Service, has called for an aggressive new approach and set the upcoming deadline.
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Latest News: Former Northwest governors urge Obama to abandon flawed Columbia-Snake salmon plan; create salmon solutions table
PORTLAND, Ore. — Today, three former Northwest governors sent a letter to President Obama urging him to abandon a 2008 Bush administration biological opinion (BiOp) for the Columbia-Snake rivers, and pull stakeholders together to create a solutions settlement table. Gov. John Kitzhaber, MD (OR), Gov. Cecil D. Andrus (ID) and Gov. Mike Lowry (WA) are urging the Obama administration to move on from the failure of the past administration and create “lawful, science-based solutions that help people, create jobs, and build the green economy of tomorrow.”
“The Obama Administration has a great opportunity to provide federal leadership to restore Northwest salmon, protect salmon jobs, and bring people together to find solutions that work for fishermen, farmers, energy users, Tribes and taxpayers,” said Governor Cecil D. Andrus, former Governor of Idaho. “I hope they tackle this job, and they've got my support if they do.” Download a PDF of the letter.
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 Prepare for dam removalBill would require agencies to analyze impacts
Register Guard Editorial - Aug 4th, 2009
It may still be possible to save the Northwest’s endangered salmon runs without breaching the four Snake River dams that represent the greatest threat to the survival of fish runs in the Columbia River basin.
Or it may not.
Either way, the federal government should be fully informed of its options and prepared to proceed with whatever actions are necessary to ensure that the salmon runs do not go extinct.
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Salmon Solutions bill restores sound science and fiscal responsibility
Taxpayer groups, fishing businesses, fishermen, clean energy advocates and conservation organizations applaud bi-partisan legislation
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), joined by 23 additional co-sponsors from across the nation, introduced the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act (SSPA) in the House of Representatives. The bill would provide Congress and federal agencies with up-to-date, thorough information about how best to protect and restore wild salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia and Snake River Basin.
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A new twist in dam removal on the Snake River
As a federal judge in Portland prepares to respond to the latest operating plan for the Columbia River Basin, community leaders in Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston, Wash., asked for end to continued long-term uncertainty. If dams stay or go, their communities will need substantial help adjusting.
By Lance Dickie, Seattle Times editorial columnist
Dam removal on the Lower Snake River always lurks in the ruminations of U.S. District Judge James Redden on salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin. Whether viewed as a threat or remediation, I could not imagine dams being breached. Until now.
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New York Times Editorial
July 4th, 2009
Following the success of a decade-old campaign to improve water quality and fish species, the West Coast’s four big dams on the Lower Snake River should be removed.
Ten years have gone by since a modest but important moment in American environmental history: the dismantling of the 917-foot-wide Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River.
The Edwards Dam was the first privately owned hydroelectric dam torn down for environmental reasons (and against the owner’s wishes) by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Bruce Babbitt, the interior secretary at the time, showed up at the demolition ceremony to promote what had become a personal crusade against obsolete dams. The publicity generated a national discussion about dams and the potential environmental benefits — to water quality and fish species — of removing them. Read more of the NYT editorial.
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 Saving the Columbia and Snake river salmon
A judge overseeing endangered salmon on the Columbia and Snake rivers is raising the possibility of dam removal. If politics trumps science this time, how can we hope to deal with climate change?
Los Angeles Times Guest Opinion
by Paul VanDevelder
July 6th, 2009
If ever there were a story that foreshadowed the political and legal Waterloos that loom in seeking solutions to climate change, surely that cautionary tale is the one about the Columbia and Snake rivers' salmon and their imminent extinction. And like most stories about endangered species or environmental threats, this one is not only about fish and rivers -- it's about us. Read more of VanDevelder's op-ed.
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Les Blumenthal; The News Tribune
July 6th, 2009
Washington – A plan to restore salmon runs in California’s Sacramento River could also help revive killer whale populations in Puget Sound, as federal scientists struggle to protect endangered species in a complex ecosystem that stretches along the Pacific Coast from California to Alaska. Read more of Blumenthal's article.
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June 21, 2009
Has the salmon debate changed?
by Rocky Barker
TROUTDALE, Ore. — Jack Glass slips the net under a 25-pound spring chinook salmon just inside the "dead line" that separates the Sandy River from the Columbia.
This invisible line, marked with a sign on the shore, designates where fishing for salmon is legal this time of the year. Oregon Fish and Wildlife authorities closed the season early for salmon on the Columbia because the returns have not been as high as expected. Read more of "Has the salmon debate changed?"
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