Imagine: A free flowing Snake River filling the Columbia with millions
of salmon and steelhead.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Through the Federal Register, the Biden Administration is requesting public, written comments to address salmon and steelhead recovery in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Sign the letter to the Biden Administration to change the future for everyone’s benefit, double the runs of Springers, UpRiver Brights, and B-run Steelhead—and keep us fishing for generations to come. Take Action: Sign the Business Letter
It is decision time for the Biden Administration. Snake River dam removal is the only realistic option for the Biden Administration to keep their promise of preventing the extinction of salmon and steelhead.
Facing looming extinctions, decades of litigation, inadequate federal plans, escalating uncertainty, and calls for justice, in early 2021 a new infrastructure package was proposed by Idaho Republican Congressman Mike Simpson, investing in the Northwest — from fish and habitat restoration, to agriculture, transportation, clean energy, hatcheries, and new, local jobs.
Fast forward to 2022, after more than a year of dialogue and inquiry, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, and the Biden Administration, made significant commitments to protect Snake River fish from extinction – and restore them to harvestable abundance. Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee released in August their Lower Snake River Dam Benefit Replacement Report and accompanying Recommendations. With these documents, the senator and governor have put the Northwest and nation on a presumptive path to recover Snake River salmon and steelhead by restoring this historic river as soon as their services – energy, irrigation, and barge transportation – are replaced with alternatives.
Also in late summer 2022, the Biden Administration agreed with plaintiffs (Nez Perce Tribe, State of Oregon, NSIA and other conservation/fishing plaintiffs led by Earthjustice) to extend the litigation pause through August 2023. In doing so, they also made a set of specific commitments necessary to advance Columbia-Snake Basin salmon recovery in the months ahead. And in September 2023, the administration issued a report identifying – for the first time – lower Snake River dam removal as one of three “centerpiece actions” urgently needed for protecting Northwest salmon from extinction.
Most recently, as part of the 2023 Washington State Legislative Session, the legislature secured over $7 million in the state’s final 2023-25 Transportation and Operating Budgets to plan the transition (replacement) of the energy, transportation, and irrigation services currently provided by the four aging dams on the lower Snake River. These planning processes are the critical next steps needed to recover salmon and steelhead, restore the lower Snake River and maintain clean energy and agriculture in the region.
Snake River Restoration – What’s in it for us?
Here are the top three benefits for Northwest fish and our fishing community that could come with the type of comprehensive regional solution that’s now being considered by many Northwest members of Congress and the Biden Administration:
1. Puts into motion the largest salmon restoration effort, ever.
Scientists predict that breaching the four lower Snake River dams will lead to a spring Chinook run that is one-million strong with good ocean conditions. That’s more than twice as many springers as we saw in 2001 — and that’s not counting the likely increase in Snake River Fall Chinook (UpRiver Brights!) when their spawning habitat is increased by 130 miles. It will create the equivalent of a whole new Hanford Reach for Fall Chinook!
2. Makes major investments in restoring healthy fish populations—including habitat restoration, fisheries, hatcheries, and water quality.
Dam breaching is getting all the attention, but it’s only a small part of the path forward. With the leadership of Sen. Murray, Gov. Inslee, Rep. Simpson, the Biden Administration, and many others, a restored Snake River would include investments in much-needed hatchery modernization, habitat restoration, and conservation efforts across the entire region.
3. Builds local economies and jobs across the region.
A comprehensive solution that restores Snake River salmon and invests in our communities would also invest millions into economic development, including for recreation, tourism, and industries like ours that benefit from abundant salmon, steelhead, and healthy free-flowing rivers. Citizens would regain 140 miles of riverfront to fish, hunt and recreate. Importantly, it would also direct millions of dollars to modernize and expand agriculture, transportation and clean energy infrastructure and communities in the Columbia Basin.
What will Breaching the 4 Lower Snake River Dams Mean for our Fisheries?
Removing the 4 Lower Snake River dams could double the number of Snake River Spring Chinook, even during bad ocean conditions. During good ocean conditions, we could see as many as one million springers return.
Breaching the dams will expose 140 miles of mainstem spawning habitat for Fall Chinook, creating a whole new Hanford Reach. We can expect a doubling of Upriver Bright Fall Chinook returns every year as well.
This is the most comprehensive and serious proposal we’ve ever seen – and it represents our very best river and salmon restoration opportunity anywhere on the West Coast.
We want to restore salmon and rebuild the region’s infrastructure for a sustainable tomorrow. For the last three decades, we’ve been tinkering around the edges to fix our salmon and steelhead problem. That approach has yielded some results but it’s far from enough to truly recover our salmon and steelhead.
We must make changes. Our Northwest leaders can deliver that change — and we can’t let this once-in-a-lifetime chance pass us by. The future of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead, and our community’s traditions, hang in the balance.
Take Action. In 2021, Rep. Simpson started the conversation. In 2022, Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee are now leading the charge. We need action this year: ask leaders in the Biden Administration to work with Northwest leaders to usher in a new era of investments in the place we call home, in our communities upstream and downstream, and in the fish that bring us together each year as they return to the Columbia-Snake Rivers – wild salmon.
Learn more about the Murray/Inslee Initiative here: www.LSRDoptions.org
A look at what people are saying
People all over the region are talking about this opportunity. Explore what they’re saying:
- Governor Kate Brown, Nez Perce Tribe Chairman Samuel N. Penney, and Liz Hamilton in The Oregonian: Clean energy, wild salmon both critical for the future of the Columbia Basin
- Andy Walgamott, Editor Northwest Sportsman: Lower Snake Dams: Now’s The Time, Opportunity To Think Big
- Sam Lungren on MeatEater: Idaho Congressman proposes breaching Snake River dams to restore salmon
- Dan McDonald, Yakima Herald: Removing Dams is crucial to a $1.5 Billion Industry.
- Buzz Ramsey on Northwest Sportsman: New Focus On Snake Dams Raises Hope For Salmon, Fisheries, Local Economies
- Steven Rinella, Congressman Mike Simpson, Eric Crawford, Ryan Callaghan, Chester Floyd, and Phil Taylor on MeatEater: Smolt to Adult
- Jim Huntsman on The Western Huntsman Podcast: A Bold Proposal Explained
- Dan McDonald in The Yakima Herald: Guest opinion: Let’s support bold plan for Snake River salmon runs
- Dan Grogan and Liz Hamilton in The Statesman Journal: Fish and rivers are the lifeblood of communities
- Barrett Christiansen in The Statesman Journal: A plan for salmon, jobs and a strong economy
- Steve Grutbo in The Oregonian: Progress needed on salmon proposal
- Jim Martin, Rod Sando, Doug DeHart, Dan Diggs, Bill Shake and Don Swartz in The Register-Guard: Guest Opinion: A failure to save salmon
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why focus on the lower Snake River dams? Why not take another approach?
The Snake River Basin alone is home to 50% of all available salmon and steelhead habitat in the lower 48 states. That’s why focusing on these four dams is our best chance for the abundant return of salmon and steelhead.
These dams are also aging and in need of expensive upgrades. Spending ratepayer money on fixing these outdated dams would not only take us backwards — it would also ensure the extinction of Snake River spring Chinook. In the face of climate change, removing these dams is the only chance for salmon.
Restoring the lower Snake River offers prosperity to our local communities by building out new and modern sources of clean power, transportation, and irrigation services and provides good, local jobs, fueling the economic engines for the region.
2. Aren’t sea lions the real problem? What about the non treaty gillnets?
It’s true that sea lions are a part of the problem. But the science is clear and well-documented: These dams are salmon and steelhead’s single-biggest obstacle to recovery.
Sea lions are one of several predators that continue to be a concern for Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead recovery. Recent gains have been made in removing problem sea lions that’s moved into the Columbia, Willamette, and some Columbia Basin tributaries. Both Oregon and Washington have aggressively advocated for better management of Columbia River sea lion populations.
Columbia Basin dams have been recognized for decades as the single biggest obstacle to the successful outmigration and return of salmon and steelhead — not by a little, but by magnitude many times greater than any other inland challenge they face.
3. Won’t this be too expensive?
Doing nothing will be far more expensive than Simpson’s proposal. We’ve invested $17 billion in failure! The cost of doing nothing runs even greater risks, including complete Basin-wide sportfishing closures, constraints to irrigation, and ultimately having the courts step in to breach the dams as a measure to comply with the Endangered Species Act, where all affected parties will end up with nothing. This is a classic pay-me-now or pay-me-more-later proposition. Doing nothing is a choice but not a solution.
4. Won’t removing these dams cost thousands of jobs?
The core objective is to keep Northwest people and communities whole. It strategically ensures there’s something for everyone impacted by dam removal.
Rep. Simpson (ID), Sen. Murray (WA), Gov. Inslee (WA) and other Northwest elected leaders understands the needs of all communities and will deliver much-needed infrastructure funding to the Port of Tri Cities, agricultural interests, power generation, tourism and affected communities — INCLUDING the benefits to sportfishing. Dam removal is essentially a massive public works project; one study projects that a capital project of this size would add over 300 jobs per year in the counties adjacent to the river for more than 30 years!
5. Won’t rural communities in Eastern Washington and Western Idaho be devastated?
These communities will enjoy some of the greatest benefits of Snake River restoration: infrastructure development, energy investments, recreational infrastructure, tourism, waterfront revitalization, and agricultural improvements – and greatly improved fishing seasons and opportunity!
The goal is to bring everyone into the discussion to clearly understand the needs and make sure they’re addressed. The economic benefits to these rural communities, from Idaho downriver and all the way to coastal southeast Alaska, will total into the billions of dollars annually. It will likely take less than a decade to recoup the investment the government is making in addressing this important, overdue, and necessary change.
6. How soon will this happen?
If successful, dam breaching would happen in sequences and would not start until later in this decade, as other infrastructure is put in place to accommodate the changes anticipated with breaching these dams.