The Osprey: Are Columbia and Snake River Steelhead Being Managed for Extinction? Part I
The running fight to save the Columbia and Snake River Basins’ dwindling runs of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead (along with other important native species such as sturgeon and lamprey) seems like it has been going on forever.
US District Court Judge Michael Simon’s rejected the National Marine Fisheries Service 2014 Biological Opinion on May 4, 2016 on grounds that it violated the Endangered Species Act, and that the US Bureau of Reclamation and US Army Corps of Engineers did not review the potential environmental effects of adopting the BiOp, as required by law. This has brought some new hope for wild fish advocates. Especially tantalizing was his suggestion that breaching the four lower Snake River dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite — should be seriously considered. That has been the Holy Grail of wild fish conservationists for years.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
• COLUMBIA BASIN STEELHEAD
• NEPA SCOPING
• DESCHUTES R WATER TEMPS
• SKEENA ESTUARY LNG
• STEELHEAD KELT REHABILITATION
• COLUMBIA R GILLNETTING
This rejection of the federal government’s most recent salmon recovery plan for the two basins (the fifth time plans have been rejected, along with numerous intermediate revisions) has put the issue in the spotlight once again as advocates mobilize to renew public awareness of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead recovery in the Columbia and Snake rivers.
So, in the spirit of solidarity, this issue of The Osprey takes a look at some of the important issues and happenings within the two basins that are affecting the long-term survival of wild fish.
Perhaps the fifth time will be the charm with public interest and energy building, especially since Judge Simon specifically highlighted the culpability of the federal hydropower system in the salmon and steelheads’ decline, and particularly the four dams on the lower Snake River.
However things go from here, The Osprey will continue to report on and support all efforts on behalf of wild fish.