The Snake River was once the most prolific producer of spring/summer chinook in the Columbia basin averaging 1.5 million of those fish per year. In addition to spring/ summer chinook the basin supported fall chinook, coho, steelhead and a strong sockeye run. Snake River coho are extinct, four sockeye returned last year to Redfish Lake and native chinook are spiralling toward extinction.
NOAA fisheries recently released a draft biological opinion for the operation of the Columbia Hydrosystem. This is the NOAA’s third bite at the apple, the previous two opinions have been thrown out for violations of the Endangered Species Act. The third plan is presently in litigation and many groups feel that it is worse for native salmon than the previous plan.
It is against this backdrop that nearly 100 members of Congress signed a letter urging the Administrator of the NOAA to at least include a study of the likely benefits of the removal of the four lower Snake River dams in the BiOp. Oregon Fly Fishing Blog has obtained a copy of that letter. Here are some excerpts:
“The draft BiOp appears to avoid any significant departure from status quo operations of the hydropower system. In some respects, . . . the draft Bi-op provide[s] less protection . . . . For many years, we have requested that all scientifically credible options, including dam breaching be analyzed, . . . yet this BiOp still contains no analysis of lower Snake River dam removal. This analysis was also requested by Judge James Redden, who remanded the previous BiOp. . . . Your own agency, in its 2000 BiOp stated, ‘ . . . breaching the four lower Snake River dams would provide more certainty of long term survival and recovery than would other measures.'”
“Unfortuntely, the key elements of an aggressive non-breach strategy, . . . are also missing from this BiOp.”
This letter was signed by nearly 100 members of Congress. Strangely, many members of our northwest congressional delegation appear to have little interest in recovering threatened Snake River chinook. In fact, Earl Blumenauer, Darlene Hooley and Jim Mcdermott are the only northwest congress people to sign the letter. Notable non-signatories include Peter DeFazio and David Wu.
It seems odd that for leadership on northwest salmon issues we should have to look to Wisconsin.
