By Gary Wockner
EcoWatch
Oct. 6 2015
As we stood on our boards and paddled away from the cove at Malpais and turned south past the wave-break, I felt a rush of what Costa Ricans call pura vida—“pure life.” Read more…
Read a recent EPA report on High Methane Emissions from a Midlatitude Reservoir here…
Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead are in trouble. Scientists say that at least 2 percent of the young fish migrating to the sea (smolts) must survive and return as adults for Idaho’s salmon and steelhead stocks to sustain themselves. That has happened only twice in the last 17 years. To actually rebuild the populations, scientists say that 4-6 percent must return. In other words, the status quo ensures decline for these fish that define Idaho and the Northwest.
Eight massive dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers that stand between Idaho’s spawning grounds and the Pacific are the biggest factors in the decline of Snake River salmon and steelhead. The slow-moving reservoirs behind the dams are thermal traps that kill fish. In the hot, dry summer of 2015, salmon died when they encountered lethally warm water in the reservoirs behind the four lower Snake River dams. Unlike a free-flowing river where water temperatures cool down at night, reservoirs trap heat and stay hot.
Certainly, dam operators and fish managers should be commended for using the limited tools at their disposal to minimize the loss of Snake River fish, but when we have met the bare minimum smolt-to-adult return ratios in only two of the past 17 years, these efforts fall short.
Without new ideas and a better approach, Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead will go the way of the passenger pigeon.
Overwhelming scientific evidence supports removal of the four lower Snake River dams as the best way to recover Snake River salmon and steelhead. If there are other actions that can fix the deadly lower Snake River migration corridor, we are all ears. Finding a solution to the continued decline of Idaho’s salmon and steelhead will require looking at the needs of fish and local communities, together.
Two decades of litigation have failed to force the government to take more decisive action to recover Idaho’s oceangoing fish. More than $12 billion has been spent on actions that fail to address the single-most important limiting factor for the fish. Simply put, not enough fish survive passage of the dams.
In 2008, under the leadership of then-Gov. Jim Risch, Idaho brought together sportsmen, counties, environmentalists, industry and others to protect Idaho’s 9 million acres of roadless areas. It wasn’t easy. It required compromise and negotiation. It took time. And it worked.
The government needs to follow Idaho’s lead and bring together farmers, tribes, states, conservation and energy interests, and local communities to save Idaho’s salmon and steelhead.
Only in such a collaborative forum can the stakeholders identify steps that will simultaneously recover the fish and keep communities whole. Sens. Risch and Mike Crapo have both expressed support for such a forum, but it remains elusive.
It isn’t just about the fish. Northwest electricity ratepayers and federal taxpayers provided millions of dollars for habitat restoration. Habitat in rivers such as the Yankee Fork, Lemhi and Pahsimeroi is much improved. Idaho possesses some of the finest salmon habitat on the planet, but if the fish can’t move from the ocean to the mountains and back, that habitat will remain a five-star hotel without guests.
We know how to recover Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead. And we know how to protect the economic well-being and quality of life of affected local communities. It’s time for the government to step up and do its part.
The status quo of lurching from crisis to crisis offers no potential for recovery. As the deadly summer of 2015 has shown, the need is more urgent than ever.
Chris Wood is the president and CEO of Trout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization.
By Kimberly Cauvel
Skagit Valley Herald
Oct. 16 2015
Even with Endangered Species Act protection, two iconic Salish Sea species are struggling, and a newly formed alliance is calling attention to their plight. Read more…
Dear Lt. Col. Vail:
We write to express concern over comments written by or attributed to you 1) at the
October 3rd Free the Snake Flotilla, 2) in recent letters-to-the editor, 3) in recent news articles,
and 4) on the Corps of Engineers’ current website.
To a participant during the Flotilla event you noted your appreciation for such events
as expressions of American democracy at work. We would hope you also tout an informed
citizenry as crucial to democracy and consider it your mandate as a government official—
particularly one of your rank and influence— to provide the public with accurate, data-verifiable
information.
In light of that mandate, we challenge, as detailed below, several of your recent comments
(in bold): Read the letter in full here…
There was fascinating news last week about southern resident killer whales that have an extensive connection to the Columbia River. These scientific findings could have a major impact on salmon management and the hydroelectric system.
For many years there were occasional reports of orcas being seen by fishermen working offshore in the Columbia River plume. Starting in 2013, a satellite-tracking program showed how they also range up and down the outer coast. They appear to bide their time, waiting for returning Chinook salmon to begin congregating near the Columbia’s mouth.
Last week’s most attention-grabbing orca news involved a different new technology — use of a camera drone this fall to conduct a thorough survey of the J, K and L pods in Washington’s Puget Sound. Photos reveal the orcas’ everyday behavior, without the drone appearing to disturb them in any way. The 82 famous killer whales are doing very well, with new 2015 calves fattening and additional females showing signs of pregnancy. This is extraordinarily promising news for animals that are counted among the eight most endangered species in the U.S.
This comes in a year of healthy Chinook salmon runs, especially to the Columbia-Snake system. The annual count is now above 1.3 million returnees to Bonneville Dam. Unlike transient killer whales that range around the North Pacific hunting smaller marine mammals, the Puget Sound orcas are strictly fish-eaters, strongly preferring Chinook. This abundant year has clearly set off an enthusiastic round of baby-making.
An unfortunate fact of life for orcas — and everything else that relies on salmon — is that runs fluctuate. This year’s extreme Pacific Northwest drought and the warm El Niño waters now dominating the Pacific may mean a sharp decline in salmon two to four years from now.
A thorough report by The Seattle Times explores the Puget Sound orcas’ strong Columbia River connection:
• “Scales and fish tissue samples from fish kills by orcas has enabled researchers to trace those fish to Canada’s Fraser River in the summer, and the Upper Columbia and Snake River in the winter.”
• “A conservation biologist at the University of Washington … has noticed in his research on orcas that thyroid hormone levels that set metabolic rates are highest when the orcas arrive in late spring, suggesting the whales are arriving in Puget Sound after feeding on a rich food source: spring runs of Columbia Chinook salmon.”
This news is bringing a renewed interest in returning the Snake River to a natural-flow regime, something that would require bypassing four hydroelectric dams. This has been a nonstarter for regional politicians for years. But the amazing popularity of orcas and stringent federal legal protections conferred on them could be a game-changer.
While dam removal could eventually enhance salmon runs, the orca-Columbia connection could also bring additional fishing restrictions, notably in years when salmon are in short supply.
It is anybody’s guess how all this orca news will balance out for local fishermen. But it’s still fun knowing our local waters play such a key part in the lives of this iconic Northwest species. We look forward to many more sightings this winter and next spring.
On January 24th, 2015, orca advocates hand delivered a letter to Washington Senator Murray encouraging her to support the breaching of the four lower Snake River dams. Read the letter in full.
On October 27th, 2015, eight highly-respected Pacific Northwest fisheries scientists responded to Will Stelle’s recent column in the Seattle Times titled “NOAA Fisheries embraces- not ignores- climate research”. Read the full response here.
Rocky Barker writes in the Idaho Statesman about how Snake River and Pacific Ocean changes could affect the politics of dam breaching. Read the full article here.
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.
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 it is full of dams. The four lower Snake River dams kill millions of Chinook juveniles every year as they attempt to migrate downriver to the ocean.” Read the full story here…