Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune Dec. 30, 2015 Idaho’s vertical geography may give salmon, steelhead and other native fish a fighting chance as climate change continues to alter their habitat for the worse. Scientists say resident fish like cutthroat trout and bull trout will still have plenty of clean, cool water in the Gem State. The […]
Idaho Statesman / Guest Opinion By Don Chapman Dec. 7, 2015 Propagandists for the lower four Snake River dams like to depict recent salmon returns as “record runs.” Most recently, Lt. Col. Tim Vail, of the Corps of Engineers, spoke of “record” salmon runs when he touted dam benefits. This self-serving assessment demands careful review. “Record runs” […]
Some five billion hatchery salmon and steelhead are released into the North Pacific each year, including fish from 155 salmon, steelhead and trout hatcheries in the Northwest. But it’s the natural populations of fish that biologists believe to be the most resilient to climate change, according to a series of oral presentations at the 145th […]
Americans have been building dams to harness rivers for energy production, irrigation, flood control and water storage since the late 1800s. To fuel a growing appetite for electricity, dam building reached a crescendo around World War II. At the time, hydropower provided three-quarters of the West’s electricity and one-third of the country’s, according to the […]
More info can be found here. This powerful film odyssey across America explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go […]
Prepared by: Carl Christianson, Biologist, retired USACE; Sharon Grace, Attorney; Jim Waddell, P.E., retired USACE This report was sent to the following officials in early November 2015: Senator Patty Murray Senator Maria Cantwell Governor Jay Inslee LTG Thomas P. Bostick–USACE Jo-Ellen Darcy–USACE Eileen Sobeck–NOAA Sally Jewell–Secty, Dept of Interior Christy Goldfuss–CEQ Sonya L. Baskerville–DOE/BPA Rep. Hans Dunshee–WA […]
The Olympian Letter to the Editor Christina M. Price, Rochester I just finished reading “Into Great Silence” by Eva Saulitis about a pod of 22 transient orcas that frequented Prince William Sound. The pod will become extinct in our lifetime because of the Exxon Valdez disaster. We are the stewards of three resident pods of […]
Brenda Peterson Huffington Post Blog “It’s rare with any endangered species to rejoice–but the birth of six new orca whale calves this year to the J, K, and L pods has the Pacific Northwest breaching for joy. In any culture, we celebrate long-awaited births with gifts. What can we offer these orca families to commemorate […]
Leda Huta Endangered Species Coalition “Yet they [Southern Resident Killer Whales] face a major problem — a lack of food. The mighty rivers of the West — including the Columbia Snake River watershed, a key source of Chinook — have been broken. Though the Columbia Snake once brought salmon all the way from inland northern Nevada to the Pacific Ocean, today […]
The Fish Passage Center (FPC) staff received two similar requests for summaries of water temperature data, management actions, and adult sockeye passage in 2015. One request was submitted by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife technical staff, and one was a citizen request. Read the full report here.