Dams, Salmon Cannot Coexist
Pacific Northwesterners have a choice to make between Snake River salmon and steelhead or the Lower Snake River dams. Fifty years and billions of dollars have clearly demonstrated we can't have both. Consider the following verifiable information:
- Fifty-eight Pacific Northwest fish biologists/resource managers, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Fisheries, have unequivocally stated the recovery of Snake River threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead requires breaching the Lower Snake River dams.
- Over the past five years, power production at these dams has plummeted and now represents only 2.4 percent of the Pacific Northwest's electricity production.
- Around 80 percent of the wheat exported from Washington and Oregon ports arrives by rail. When the lower Snake shuts down for major lock repairs, wheat normally barged during the 14- to 15-week river closures is shipped by rail.
- Only 13 percent of the irrigated farmland near Ice Harbor Dam is family farms. The vast majority of this land is owned by huge corporations.
In the interest of protecting the status quo on the Lower Snake River, should Pacific Northwesterners forfeit wild Snake River salmon and steelhead, and likely Southern Resident Orcas? This is not a difficult choice.
-- Linwood Laughy The Columbian, October 24, 2025
Landsat Timelapse at bluefish.org homepage.