This page contains a series of documents that provide additional detailed information on a range of topics concerning wild salmon and steelhead population status and restoration activities, Southern Resident Orcas, Columbia and Snake river conditions and management regimes and options, dam removal, commercial transportation, energy replacement, and more from the following years: 1996 - 2019.

Additional information and resources can be found under each SOS Project in the form of media stories, guest opinions, news releases, reports, etc. If you have questions about these documents or topics, or others that aren’t listed below, please contact Joseph Bogaard at joseph@wildsalmon.org // 206-300-1003

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 

1. SCIENCE


2. ECONOMICS OF DAMS, DAM REMOVAL, ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS, AND MORE


3. ENERGY REPLACEMENT OF THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS


4. CONGRESS, TRIBES, AGENCIES, GOVERNORS, AND OTHER SOVEREIGNS & POLICYMAKERS


5. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT REVIEW 


(1) SCIENCE:

— A. Salmon Science incl. lower Snake River dam removal, spill, barging, etc:

• Fish Passage Center’s analysis of the federal agencies’ CRSO Draft EIS Alternatives including high spill and dam breaching (March 2020)  PDF
• Scientists' White Letter: Southern Resident Killer Whales & Columbia/Snake River Chinook: A Review of the Available Scientific Evidence (Feb. 2020)  PDF
• Letter from fifty-five scientists to Northwest policymakers documents how federal dams and climate impacts are increasing water temperatures in the lower Snake River and harming salmon survival and recovery (Oct. 2019)  PDF
• NGO Letter to Ecology signed by 19 organizations regard rulemaking to change water quality standards to allow for increased spill (Sept. 2019) PDF
• Salmon Scientists' Letter to Governor Inslee's Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force (Oct. 2018)  PDF
• Graph: Comparison of Smolt-to-Adult Rations (SARs) upriver and downriver of lower Snake River dams (2018)  PDF
• Graphs: Snake River wild salmon and steelhead returns from 1954 - 2019 (2019)  PDF
• Scientists' Letter to Congress re: the benefits of expanded spill on the survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead in the Columbia-Snake River Basin (2017) PDF
• Snake River Salmon and Steelhead Returns: 2015 - 2017 (Oct. 2017)  PDF
• Comparative Survival Study of Pit-tagged of Spring/Summer/Fall Chinook, Summer Steelhead and Sockeye (CSS Oversight Committee and Fish Passage Center, 2017) PDF
• Wild Pacific Salmon: An Threatened Legacy (Williams, Lichatowich et al, 2017) PDF
• Why spill? Because the situation is dire - Ten slides on outlining spill science and benefits (2017)  PDF
• Map: Smolt-to-Adult Ratio (SAR) for the Columbia-Snake River Basin (2017) PDF
• Idaho Conservation Organizations Letter to NOAA-Fisheries re: artificial fish transportation (barging) and harmful effects on sockeye survival and recovery (2017)  PDF
• Factsheet: The Salmon Community’s View: The status of wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia and Snake River Basin (2016)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Data Request Regarding Drawing Down Lower Granite Reservoir to Better Meet Water Quality Standards for Temperature (2016)  PDF
• Spill and Total Dissolved Gas (TDG) science presented in two summary slides (2016)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Preliminary 2015 juvenile survival estimates and environmental conditions (2016)  PDF
• SOS Report: Learning from the Fish – The biological effects of BPA management, including its wind power curtailments, on ocean-bound Columbia and Snake River salmon in 2011 (2011)  PDF
• Resolution of the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society on the Role of Dams and Conservation of Snake River Salmon, Steelhead, Pacific Lamprey, and White Sturgeon (2011)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Benefits of spill for juvenile fish passage at hydroelectric projects (2011)  PDF
• Factsheet: Dams catch more salmon than fishermen (2007)  PDF
• Graph: Columbia Basin Salmon Harvest 1866 - 2011 (2013)  JPG

— B. Southern Resident Orca:

• Orca Scientists' Letter to Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force re: spring chinook, spill and lower Snake River dam removal (Oct. 2018)  PDF
• Puget Sound Partnership Resolution 2017-01: Accelerating and amplifying chinook salmon recovery for Southern Resident Killer Whales (Nov. 2017)  PDF
• PLOS 1: Population growth is limited by nutritional impacts on pregnancy success in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Wasser et al, 2017)  PDF
• Factsheet: Why Southern Resident Orcas are Malnourished (2016)  PDF
• Orca Scientist Letter re: Breaching Snake River Dams to Support Orca Recovery (2016)  PDF
• Orca Scientists Letter to Senator Patty Murray re: Recovering Federally Endangered Killer Whales by Breaching the Four Lower Snake River Dams  (2015)  PDF
• Orca Salmon Alliance Factsheet: Save the Salmon, Save the Whales (2015)  PDF
• Businesses and Scientists Sign-on Letter to Governor Inslee re: Southern Resident Killer Whales (2014)  PDF
• Assessing the coastal occurrence of endangered killer whales using autonomous passive acoustic recorders (J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 2013)  PDF
• Species and stock identification of scale/tissue samples from southern resident killer whale predation events collected off the Washington coast during PODs 2009 cruise on the McArthur II (Hanson et al, unpublished, 2010)  PDF
• Orca Scientists Letter to NOAA Regional Administrator Bob Lohn re: Recovering Federally Endangered Killer Whales by Breaching the Four Lower Snake River Dams (2007)  PDF

— C. Climate Change

• EPA Powerpoint Presentation: Temperature Model of the Snake River (2017)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: The effect of warm water on upstream steelhead passage (2016) PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Requested data summaries regarding summer Chinook adult fish passage and water temperature in the Columbia and Snake River (2016)  PDF
• NOAA Report: Impacts of Climate Change on Salmon of the Pacific Northwest (Crozier, 2016)  PDF
• Scientists Letter to NOAA-Fisheries re: Climate Change and Columbia Basin salmon (2015)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Requested data summaries and actions regarding sockeye adult fish passage and water temperature issues in the Columbia and Snake rivers.  (2015)  PDF
• Letter to Northwest Power and Conservation Council re: expanded spill and greenhouse gas emissions (SOS and NW Energy Coalition, 2014)  PDF
• Fish Passage Center Memo: Response to request – Review BPA SMART Spill PowerPoint Presentation (2013)  PDF
• A Great Wave Rising: Solutions for Columbia and Snake Salmon in the Age of Climate Change (Martin and Glick, 2013) PDF
• Bright Future: How to keep the Northwest’s lights on, jobs growing, goods moving and salmon swimming in the era of climate change (NWEC, 2009)  PDF
• Bright Future Excerpts – page 1, 4 (NWEC, 2009)  PDF

(2) ECONOMICS OF DAMS, DAM REMOVAL, ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS, AND MORE:

• ECONorthwest Economic Study on Lower Snake River Dams: Economics Tradeoff of Removal Executive Summary (July 2019) Executive Summary and Full Report
• Factsheet: Myths and Facts of the Lower Snake River (Sierra Club, 2019)  PDF
• Report: Bonneville Power Administration - Threatened, Endangered, or on the Brink of Extinction? (Rocky Mountain Econometrics, 2018)  PDF
• Report: Bonneville Power Administration and the Lower Snake River Dams - The Folly of Conventional Wisdom (Rocky Mountain Econometrics, 2018)  PDF
• Presentation: New Perspectives of Freight Transport on the Lower Snake River (2018)  PDF
• Public Comment submitted to the Governor Inslee's Orca Recovery Task Force: Freight Transportation on the Lower Snake River (2018)  PDF
• Public Comment submitted to the Governor Inslee's Orca Recovery Task Force: Lower Snake River Hydropower (2018)  PDF
• Report: The Value of Natural Capital in the Columbia River Basin – a Comprehensive Analysis (Earth Economics, 2017)  PDF
• Brochure: The Value of Natural Capital in the Columbia River Basin – a Comprehensive Analysis (Earth Economics, 2017)  PDF
• FAQ for the Value of Natural Capital in the Columbia River Basin – A Comprehensive Analysis (Earth Economics, 2017)  PDF
• Economic Impacts of Pacific Salmon Fisheries (Prepared for the Pacific Salmon Commission by SGGislason and Associates, Ltd, 2017)  PDF
• National and Regional Economic Analysis of the Four Lower Snake River Dams – A review of the 2002 Lower Snake Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement Economic Appendix (Earth Economics, 2016)  PDF
• Dam Removal: Case Studies on the Fiscal, Economic, Social, and Environmental Benefits of Dam Removal (Headwaters Economics, 2016)  PDF
• Executive Summary: Dam Removal Case Studies on the Fiscal, Economic, Social, and Environmental Benefits of Dam Removal (Headwaters Economics, October 2016)  PDF
• The Costs of Keeping the Four Lower Snake River Dams: A Reevaluation of the Lower Snake River Feasibility Report (James Waddell, 2015)  PDF
• Lower Snake River Navigation Study (Rocky Mountain Econometrics, 2015)  PDF
• Graph: Lower Snake River Freight Traffic at Ice Harbor Dam – 1995-2015  PDF
• Factsheet: The Five Most Blatant Myths about Freight Transportation on the Lower Snake River (2013)  PDF
• Factsheet: It Costs to Have a Port (2014)  PDF
• Factsheet: Myths and Facts about lower Snake River dam removal (SOS, 2014)  PDF
• Report: Revenue Stream: An economic analysis of the costs and benefits of removing the four dams on the lower Snake River (2013)  PDF
• Factsheet: Freight Transport on the Lower Snake River: Putting Total Tonnage and Ton-miles in Perspective (2013)  PDF
• Economist Letter to the Washington State government highlighting the economic importance of salmon (1998) PDF
• The Cost of Doing Nothing - The economic burden of salmon declines in the Columbia River Basin (Institute of Fisheries Resources with Radke, 1996)  PDF

(3) ENERGY REPLACEMENT OF THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS:

• SOS Testimony to the Northwest Power and Conservation Concil regarding the 2019 Fish and Wildlife Amendment (2019)  PDF
• Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study (NW Energy Coalition, 2018)  PDF
• Factsheet (1 page): Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study (NW Energy Coalition, 2018)  PDF
• Factsheet (4-page): Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study (NW Energy Coalition, 2018)  PDF
• Restoring wild salmon – Power system costs and benefits of lower Snake River dam removal (NW Energy Coalition, 2015)  PDF
• Lower Snake River Alternative Power Costs (Rocky Mountain Econometrics, 2015)  PDF
• Factsheet: Columbia Basin Dams, Salmon and Clean Energy (SOS, 2014)  PDF

(4) CONGRESS, TRIBES, AGENCIES, GOVERNORS AND OTHER SOVEREIGNS & POLICYMAKERS:

— A. Resolution, Reports, Letters, Statements from Northwest Tribes:

• Letter sent to Governor Inslee by the Nez Perce Tribe expressing its support for lower Snake River stakeholder forum (Jan. 2019) PDF

— B. Reports, Letters, Statements from Congress, Governors, and Policymakers:

• Congress Mike Simpson (ID-R) speech at Boise conference expressing the need to explore all options to save salmon and BPA (April 2019) Video and  Select Quotes
• Legislators’ letter signed by 43 state legislators, expressing support for two funding items for (1) increased spill at federal dams and (2) lower Snake River stakeholder forum (March 2019) PDF

— C. Factsheets and Letters from Local and National NGOs, businesses, PUDs, individuals and constituents:

• Letter from the Tri-Cities to Governor Inslee opposing stakeholder discussions (Jan. 2019) PDF
• SOS Factsheet supporting a state-led, facilitated conversation re: transitions and investments that would be required if the four lower Snake River dams are to be removed. (Winter 2019) PDF
• Sign-On Letter from 29 WA Organizations to legislators in support of increased spill and the formation of a dam removal stakeholder forum (Feb. 2019)  PDF
• Washington State Food Professionals letter to Governor Inslee in support of establishing a stakeholder forum regarding dam removal (Dec. 2018)  PDF
• Science packet regarding spill and lower Snake River dam removal delivered to members of Gov. Inslee's Orca Task Force (Sept. 2018)  PDF
• HR 3144:
  • American Fisheries Society Statement on HR 3144 (June 2018)  PDF
  • NGO Sign-on Letter to Congress opposing HR 3144 (April 2018)  PDF
  • Business Sign-on Letter to Congress opposing HR 3144 (April 2018)  PDF
  • Congressional Factsheet opposing HR 3144 (April 2018)  PDF
  • Senator Patty Murray and Representatives Adam Smith and Pramila Jayapal's letter to Congress opposing HR 3144 (February 2018)  PDF
  • Governor Kate Brown's Letter to Congress opposing HR 3144 (January 2018)  PDF
  • Governor Jay Inslee's Letter to Congress opposing HR 3144 (Dec. 2017)  PDF
  • Orca Salmon Alliance Letter to Gov. Inslee re: Emergency Orca Task Force (Oct. 2017)  PDF
  • NGO Sign-on letter to Governor Jay Inslee (WA) urging increased 'spill' to help endangered salmon and orca (Nov. 2017) PDF
  • NGO Sign-on letter to Northwest members of Congress re: HR 3144 (2017)  PDF
  • SOS-Earthjustice Factsheet: HR 3144 (2017)  PDF
  • HR 3144 – bill language (2017)  PDF
  • HR 3144 select materials from House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Water, Energy and Oceans hearing (Oct. 2017)
    • Nez Perce Tribe comments  PDF
    • Save Our wild Salmon comments  PDF
    • Alaska Trollers Association comments  PDF
    • National Wildlife Federation comments  PDF
    • Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association testimony  PDF
    • Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations comments  PDF
    • Orca Salmon Alliance comments  PDF
    • Coastal Trollers Association comments  PDF
    • NW Energy Coalition comments  PDF

(5) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) REVIEW:

• Factsheets:
  • Save Our wild Salmon Factsheet: 2020 Columbia River Systems Operations (CRSO) Final EIS and Biological Opinion (July 2020)  PDF
  • Save Our wild Salmon Coalition Factsheet: Why the CRSO Draft EIS will not bring people together or deliver solutions for Northwest salmon, communities or energy system (March 2020)  PDF
  • 2019/2020 NEPA review process of the Columbia River Systems Operations Factsheet PDF
  • NW Energy Coalition Factsheet: Considering all options, including a clean, affordable, renewable energy solution for the lower Snake River (2017) PDF
• NGO Letters:
  • Letter sent by 24 NGOs based in the Northwest states to Federal Agencies requesting that the CRSO DEIS public hearings be postponed and rescheduled at a late date after the public health risk caused by the coronavirus has passed. (March 2020) PDF
  • Letter sent by 22 NGOs based in the Northwest states to Federal Agencies requesting that the CRSO DEIS public comment period be extended from 45 days to 120 days to allow for meaningful public review and feedback. (March 2020) PDF
• Further Information:
  • 2020 Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Snake and Columbia River dams and salmon page with a summary of public comments and links to many detailed policy comments (DEIS CRSO)
  • NEPA Review Scoping Period page with a summary of public comments, links to many detailed policy comments (Oct. 2016 – Feb. 2017)