Conservation.
Inform. Educate. ACt..
A federal judge is forcing discussion of a radical step to save endangered salmon: taking out four dams on the Lower Snake River.
The public will get a chance to weigh in at meetings throughout the Northwest starting next month.
“Scientists tell us that removing the four Lower Snake dams is the single most important action we could take to restore salmon in the entire Columbia-Snake river basin,” said Sam Mace of Save Our Wild Salmon.
The four dams produce about 5 percent of the Northwest’s hydroelectric power. They allow barges to ship goods between Lewiston and Portland. But they also hamper salmon migration to some of the best remaining fish habitat.
Commercial interests have long opposed removing the Lower Snake dams.
“We think those dams need to stay in place because of the multiple benefits they provide,” said Terry Flores, executive director of Northwest River Partners, which represents public utilities, port districts and farm groups.
“They provide clean, carbon-free energy … We think they’re an important part of the Northwest economy and the environment,” she said.
Three federal agencies will hold public hearings across the region this fall to discuss the creation of a new salmon plan.
Back in May, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon sided with fishing groups, environmentalists, the state of Oregon and the Nez Perce Tribe, finding that the latest of five federal plans for protecting the fish wasn’t adequate. He ordered the agencies to prepare a new one by early 2018.
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The Susitna River Coalition includes a growing community of more than 13,000 individuals,
groups, and businesses from around Alaska who support a free-flowing Susitna River and the
healthy communities it sustains. Our immediate work is to stop the proposed Susitna mega dam
through collaboration, education, advocacy and awareness of the values of an intact Susitna
watershed. Our long-term work is to establish permanent protection for the river. Find us online
at www.susitnarivercoalition.org or on Facebook.