After more than a decade of pressure to remove the four dams on the lower Snake River to help recover endangered Chinook salmon populations, there is a lifeline being extended by a US District Court judge.
In the summer of 2000, temperatures in Western Washington hovered at a sweltering 90 degrees in the shade. However, there was little shade to be found along the shores of Lake Sacajawea above Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. The river sides were barren of trees and shrubbery, which allowed the still waters to warm up and stagnate. There were four 
hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River; each creating a reservoir to facilitate barge transportation for moving agricultural products. Environmental agencies estimated the damaging effect of warmer water and increased gases had decimated approximately 90% of the Chinook salmon and steelhead populations.
Fast forward to May 19, 2009 and a report released by Earthjustice explains the sudden opportunity to help preserve salmon and steelhead. It says in part:
In 2008, the Bush Administration imposed a plan that allows these lethal dams to continue killing up to 90% of some Snake River salmon runs. Earthjustice challenged the plan in court soon after it was issued, and now the Obama administration is conducting a 60-day review of that plan—providing some extra time to explore a way to resolve this long-running controversy.
The federal judge hearing the case, U.S. District Court Judge James Redden, just on May 18 wrote a letter to the parties indicating his preliminary conclusion that the Bush plan is illegal. He urged the federal defendants in the case to consider all of the options—including lower Snake River dam removal—to restore these fish. In the words of Judge Redden, "[a]ll of us know that aggressive action is necessary to save this vital resource, and now is the time to make that happen."
Now is a historic chance to reach out to the new Obama appointed officials at National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and encourage them to finally do what is right for our endangered salmon and steelhead and end this long standing conflict between conservationists and agribusiness.
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Comments
Thanks for this good article. EarthJustice has been amazing in this decade-plus long battle for the Snake River salmon. Save Our Wild Salmon is one EJ's clients - you can find lots more info about this important issue is at www.wildsalmon.org
Thanks, Dan. I did an article on this subject for Neighborhood America about 10 years ago. I went to the Snake River to take photographs of the lower four dams and the riparian condition on the river close to the dams. It was shocking.
I hope Earthjustice, with the help of the Obama administration can finally make this happen.
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