With momentum building to halt the disastrous decline of the Snake River’s salmon and steelhead by removing four dams on the lower river, opponents are scrambling to lay blame elsewhere. Enter the big, bad ocean.
The science is clear: Snake River dams kill too many fish
If you’re wondering why salmon and steelhead populations in the Snake River are in trouble, the answer is obvious: It’s the four dams on the lower Snake and the reservoirs behind them: They kill too many fish.
The tipping point for Snake River steelhead
These remarks were delivered on Thursday, May 13, at the 2021 Environmental Conference at the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University by Chris Wood, the President and CEO of Trout Unlimited.
Snake River named ‘most endangered’ by American Rivers
This week, American Rivers named the Snake River America’s No. 1 Most Endangered River of 2021, pointing to perilously low returns of Snake River salmon and steelhead, and the urgent need for lawmakers and communities to come together to develop a comprehensive economic revitalization plan.
It’s time for the lower Snake River dams to go
“It is our collective opinion, based on overwhelming scientific evidence, that restoration of a free-flowing lower Snake River is essential to recovering wild Pacific salmon and steelhead in the basin.”
So reads a remarkable letter recently sent to the governors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana by 10 of the finest and most-respected salmon and steelhead scientists in the world.
Understanding this year’s forecast for the Clearwater River
Currently fishery managers are forecasting a steelhead run on the Clearwater that may rank as the fourth best among the ten-year average . With any luck we may be seeing a turnaround from some of the most underwhelming runs on record. We should be cautiously optimistic, though and here’s why.
Opportunity for fish and anglers on the Clearwater
The Clearwater River has seen its fair share of low points over the last five years, from depressed steelhead runs to spring/summer Chinook runs that underwhelm the communities reliant on these runs for their economies. But there is one shining bit of good news on this river: the status of fall-run Chinook.
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