News & Articles
WORKING SNAKE RIVER: SAVING SALMON — AND JOBS
July 1st, 2010 by Waylon Lewis
The environment is our environment.
Yet another example (think tourism-rich Florida, which banned offshore drilling decades ago, vs. drill rig-happy Louisiana re: the BP Oil Spill) of how tourism can be just as fruitful — economically-speaking — as harming our earth for quick and dirty profit.
The below comes via Working Snake River:
PRESS RELEASE
April 7, 2010
Salmon advocates ask judge to reject spill curtailment
Change in successful program will harm wild salmon, reduce fishing jobs
Portland, OR — A coalition of fishing businesses, conservation groups and clean energy advocates filed papers in federal district court here today, warning that the Obama administration’s proposal to eliminate key in-river salmon protections this year will reduce salmon returns and harm fishing opportunities for years ahead.
The administration wants to eliminate the highly successful program of spilling water over Snake and Columbia river dams during most of this spring’s migration of young salmon. Spilling water over the dams is widely recognized as the safest way to get young salmon past the federal dams and out to the ocean, even when river flows are low.
FEDERAL APPROACH STILL HARMS SALMON
March 22, 2010 – Rod Sando — Guest Columnist
No greater challenge faces managers of Pacific Northwest resources than restoration of salmon in the Columbia River.
We initially welcomed the Obama administration’s request to federal Judge James Redden to delay his ruling and review the previous administration’s salmon policies; a testament to President Obama’s commitment – given in speeches before hundreds of scientists across this nation – to restore science to “its rightful place” in public policy decision making.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: THE KEY TO OUR CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE
The Oregonian: March 04, 2010
By Sara Patton - Guest columnist
The Northwest’s official electric power planning agency has confirmed, once again, that energy efficiency is the best and cheapest way to cover the next generation’s electricity needs.
Every five years, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council produces a plan for meeting the next 20 years of electricity needs – a plan that guides the resource decisions of the Bonneville Power Administration and the public utilities that the BPA serves, and sets benchmarks for all of the region’s utilities.
The just-approved Sixth Northwest Power and Conservation Plan says the region can and should meet the lion’s share – 85 percent – of new power needs with energy efficiency costing far less than power from any new generating facility. Almost all the rest will be met with the new renewable energy already required by Northwest states.
MORE BROKEN PROMISES FROM ARMY CORPS
Reader’s Opinion, Idaho Statesman, 1/24/2010
Last month Idaho’s Parks Board decided to close Dworshak State Park, near Orofino, due to a lack of funds. There is a story behind this story, about the Army Corps of Engineers and broken promises to Idaho.
Many in Orofino remember the Army Corps’ promise when it built Dworshak Dam in 1972. The reservoir would bring top-class recreation and dollars and jobs to Orofino. In exchange for this promise, the people of Idaho lost one of the finest wild steelhead rivers in the world - the North Fork of the Clearwater.
LEGISLATION INTRODUCTION PROMISING FOR SNAKE RIVER SALMON, STEELHEAD
July 31, 2009 Boise
A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today establishes a clear path toward salmon and steelhead recovery. The legislation, called the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act (SSPA) of 2009, was introduced by Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Tom Petri, R-Wisc. and is bolstered by support from 23 original cosponsors.“This bill’s introduction comes at a critical time in the campaign to recover endangered stocks of Snake and Columbia River salmon and steelhead,” said Bill Sedivy, executive director of Idaho Rivers United. “The Obama administration is reviewing a 2008 Biological Opinion from the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the administration is expected to weigh in on Aug. 14. But more important still, salmon and steelhead are in crisis. Their decline is crippling the Northwest fishing industry and harming regional communities and ecosystems. It’s crucial that the Obama administration convene a solutions table that brings together stakeholders to solve this regional catastrophe.”
READ MORE (SSPA09 Fact Sheet) ……
OBAMA BOTCHES SALMON RECOVERY
Sept. 15, 2009 Boise
Hope dimmed in the Pacific Northwest today when the Obama administration released an old salmon recovery plan redressed in new clothing.”We appreciate that President Obama took the time to look at this, but we see little more than a veiled attempt to pass off the old Bush plan as a new one,” said Greg Stahl, assistant policy director at Idaho Rivers United. “This is a president who promised decisions based on science and law, and Idaho salmon have yet to see any indication that he is doing that. We’ve got to get off this merry-go-round. Idaho salmon don’t have another decade to spin in politically gerrymandered circles. Judge Redden said it in May, and we agree. Salmon need real recovery now.”
READ MORE (Obama Botches Salmon Recovery) ……
CRAPO’S LEADERSHIP COULD HELP SALMON TALKS YIELD RESULTS
READER’S VIEW - SALMON RECOVERY - By RON WATTERS/Published: 09/05/09 - Idaho Statesman
Finally, a glimmer of hope for Idaho fishermen and outdoor lovers! For years, Idaho politicians have wrung hands and twiddled thumbs when it came to restoring salmon and steelhead to Idaho streams. All the while, Idaho’s once great salmon runs have dwindled to a sickly and pitiful few.But Sen. Mike Crapo appears to be taking a new, fresh and hopeful course of action.Read More: www.idahostatesman.com/readersopinion/story/889212.
