Dear Northwest Power and Conservation Council Members,

My name is _____, I live in ____ and I am a ratepayer of ______ .  As a ratepayer, I care about having an affordable and reliable clean energy system that also supports strong, sustainable, and abundant salmon populations.  As a ratepayer, I'd like to see BPA and regional Utilities prioritize the development of new clean energy sources and significantly decrease our reliance on hydropower to mitigate the harm caused to salmon. 

I am deeply concerned about the crisis salmon and steelhead are facing across the Columbia Basin, and I urge you to adopt a final 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program that includes the full range of robust, actionable, and accountable measures necessary to achieve the Council’s legal obligations in the next 5-10 years and make actionable progress for salmon and steelhead recovery.

To achieve the Council’s five million fish goal, I urge you to adopt all of the recommendations by State and Tribal fish managers throughout the region, to whom the Council must pay deference as required by the Northwest Power Act, including the following three priorities:

1. Elevated levels of spill through August 31st as a priority hydropower operations measure. Wild juvenile salmon and steelhead that outmigrate throughout August make up a disproportionately large share of the wild adults that return to the Columbia and Snake rivers. Increased spill is necessary to protect the genetic diversity of wild and natural stocks and allow the generational population growth that is necessary to recover healthy and abundant fisheries.

2. Detailed and explicit accountability measures, especially linked to Bonneville Power Administration’s responsibility to achieve Program goals—with a whole of government approach—and to address all necessary hydropower measures in the Ninth Power Plan.

3. Acknowledge lower Snake River dam removal as a necessary measure in the final 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program and include an analysis of dam breach scenario in the Ninth Power Plan. Established science clearly demonstrates that removing the lower Snake River dams is a necessary action to achieve the Council’s 5 million fish goal and will have the single largest impact on the recovery of salmon and steelhead stocks in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Signed, 

 WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMENT: 

To customize or develop your own comment, we recommend the following messaging points, including why salmon recovery matters to you.

The top three priorities to include are: (1) August spill, (2) BPA accountability, and (3) acknowledging lower Snake River dam breach as a necessary measure in the plan. 

• The 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program must include the full range of robust, actionable, and accountable measures necessary to achieve the Council’s legal obligations in the next 5-10 years, and all measures must be designed to achieve the interim goal of 5 million adult salmon and steelhead returning annually to the Columbia Basin. 

• The plan should include elevated levels of spill through August 31st as a priority hydropower operations measure.  
   
  Wild juvenile salmon and steelhead that outmigrate throughout August make up a disproportionately large share of the wild adults that return to the Columbia and Snake rivers. Increased spill will help protect the genetic diversity of wild and natural stocks and allow the generational population growth that is necessary to recover healthy and abundant fisheries.   This measure has been recommended by State and Tribal fish managers throughout the region, to whom the Council must pay deference as required by the Northwest Power Act. 

• BPA must be accountable to Program goals. 

  As stated in draft Program, the Council should ensure all parties approach the development and implementation of the Program goals and objectives with a “spirit of collaboration and mutual accountability” – including Bonneville Power Administration, who must be required to uphold Tribal Treaty Rights, fully implement its obligation to protect and enhance all fisheries impacted by the hydro system, and effectively achieve the measures through a whole-of-government approach.

• The plan should acknowledge lower Snake River dam removal as a necessary measure.  Established science clearly demonstrates that removing the lower Snake River dams is a necessary action to achieve the Council’s 5 million fish goal and will have the single largest impact on the recovery of salmon and steelhead stocks in the Columbia and Snake rivers. 

  The Ninth Energy Plan should include an analysis of a lower Snake River dam breach scenario as part of comprehensive and responsible regional energy planning for the next 20 years. Omitting it would needlessly restrict potential solutions and leave the Council less prepared in the event of a breach decision in Congress.

• The Fish and Wildlife Program and Ninth Power Plan should ensure a path towards affordable, reliable, and new clean energy development—that also protects and restores harvestable and abundant salmon. 

  Instead of deferring some of the most important fish recovery measures to other processes that have failed, as previous plans have done, the Council should adopt all of the hydropower operations measures recommended by the State and Tribal fisheries managers, as well as incorporate and fully address those measures in the Ninth Power Plan—as directed by the Northwest Power Act.

• The plan should increase funding and strengthen support for the Fish Passage Center, including the Comparative Survival Study and Smolt Monitoring Program. 

  The Center’s programs provide critical data to determine whether Program measures are actually achieving desired results. 

  Additionally, the Council should make the Fish Passage Center more directly accountable to State and Tribal fish and wildlife agencies, not only through “consultation” but through a management board to oversee statements of work and budgets. 

ATTEND A PUBLIC HEARING HOSTED BY THE NPCC:

Upcoming hearings:

• Yakima – Feb. 4 at 4:30-6:30 pm | Yakima Convention Center
  • Sign up here to receive resources and information for the Yakima hearing.
  • Pre-hearing gatherings:
    • Day-of pre-hearing gathering on Feb. 4 at 4pm at Suite 400 of the Convention Center.

• Boise – Feb. 12th at 4:00-6:00 pm | Idaho Fish and Game Headquarters
  • Sign up here to receive resources and information for the Boise hearing.
  • Day-of pre-hearing gathering Feb. 12 at 3pm at the Idaho Conservation League office (710 S 6th St, Boise)
  • Right after the hearing, you can head over to Payette Brewing (733 S. Pioneer St.) between 6:15-7:30pm to grab a drink, debrief with fellow salmon advocates, and chat about what comes next.

• Bend – Feb. 12th at 4:00-6:00 pm | OSU – Cascades
  • Sign up here to receive resources and information for the Bend hearing.

• Seattle – Feb. 17th at 4:30-6:30 pm | Seattle University
  • Sign up here to receive resources and information for the Seattle hearing

• Webinar – Feb 24th (Exact time and link to register to be released as the hearing
  approaches).
  • Sign up here to receive resources and information for the webinar hearing.