What a difference a month makes. Representative Simpson's announcement is the spark we've been waiting for.
by Dave Cannamela, ID Chapter Salmon Recovery Committee Chair, February 9th, 2021
Congressman Mike Simpson’s announcement of a huge infrastructure revitalization plan for the Columbia and Snake River system gives us cause for momentary celebration; celebration because the plan actually includes the one action necessary to restore our salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey runs. This is work worth doing because the plan legitimately addresses the two factors that are key to a future that includes salmon. Congressman Simpson once said, “the fish need a river,” and this puts that sentiment into action. Secondly, it meets the needs of people who are now being served by the presence of the dams and keeps them whole while also providing restorative justice to tribal nations and treaty rights.
The biological key to restoring our fish is the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. Scientists have been saying this since before the dams were ever built. Now there is the 10,000 years of dam-free history, and the empirical “proof” from some 1,500 dam removal projects in this country, and the 30 years of data since since the lower Snake River dams were constructed seem to show that clearly. The real barriers to salmon recovery have always been the lack of political willpower and a convincing plan that we can maintain the services dams provide - affordable, reliable electricity, commodity transportation and irrigation needs- without the dams. Congressmen Simpson’s plan overcomes these barriers by including actions that go beyond maintenance of these services.
“Salmon recovery” means economic, cultural, and ecosystem rejuvenation. These fish and the free-flowing river they depend on are the foundation, the life blood, and the driving force, of all facets of life in the Pacific Northwest. They are vital to the physical and spiritual well-being of Upper Snake River Tribes. They are the source of life for “all creatures great and small”, from the unseen microbiota in the far reaches of Snake River watersheds to the Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcas) and countless other salmon-dependent creatures in the ocean. From gravel to gravel, these fish feed everything in their path. They are the nutrients that fuel the system and for many of us a force that feeds our souls.
The plan will be successful, if we want it to be, because it makes space for us to collaborate. It gives us a path forward because it is comprehensive, inclusive and “additive”. No one will be left behind, and those who have been seriously hurt (and wronged) by the construction of the four lower Snake River dams and the ensuing loss of the fish, will be made whole again: the honoring and restoration of Tribal rights and culture is no small thing, for Idaho river communities, and for all those that seek the beauty of these fish.
In the end, it is difficult to put a price tag on the annual joy of welcoming these fish back to their home waters. There can be no greater source of pride and fulfillment than knowing that we passed the gift of salmon on to future generations.
Have you seen the announcement? Check it out here.
The Governor's salmon working group final report fails to deliver but provides ground to build on.
by Dave Cannamela, ID Chapter Salmon Recovery Committee Chair, January 11th, 2021
The recommendations provided represent the status quo which we know has failed “to restore abundant, sustainable, and well distributed population of salmon and steelhead."
Notably, any attempt to recommend removal of the four Lower Snake River Dams (LSRDs), the only action that will restore our fish, was torpedoed by the “consensus standard” imposed on the process- that is, only recommendations that garnered unanimous support would be included in the report. The consensus standard set up the final report to be a collection of contradictions because many of the stated objectives cannot be achieved without river restoration (via dam removal).
For example, the report proposes to fulfill certain “overarching principles” including “restoring ecological functions throughout the basin necessary for salmon and steelhead to thrive." How can this be achieved without restoring the lower Snake River, that is, restoring what is now a series of reservoirs to a real, free-flowing river? Only the river can provide the ecological conditions under which fish evolved and thrived.
The report recognized the need for a “healthy migration corridor." Yet the same conclusion is needed to do this; remove the dams and restore the river.
The report also recognizes the need for an average Smolt to Adult Return Rate (SAR) of 4%. The most robust science conducted over the last 30 years or so, and empirical data, tells us that only restoration of the lower Snake can produce these SARs. There are only two pieces of evidence the average citizen needs to know when it comes to the Snake River Salmon issue:
- First, the decline of our fish began with completion of the four lower Snake River dams and
- Second, chinook and steelhead populations in rivers that enter the Columbia below the four lower Snake River dams display SARs above the 2% replacement level and did not experience the decline our fish suffered when the lower Snake River dams were completed.
The recommendations don’t give us what we need to recover our fish and the authors plainly admit that “this document is not a recovery plan”. To which I say, “no kidding”. However, the report does give us some things we can build upon and for which we can hold the Governor accountable. The authors acknowledged the following:
- “Salmon and steelhead are a vital part of a vast ecosystem…”
- “These iconic species have been driven towards extinction. There is an urgent need to turn things around.”
- “Idahoans want abundant, sustainable, and well distributed populations of salmon and steelhead…” (This became abundantly clear from the hundreds of oral and written testimonies provided to the workgroup. Futhermore, the overwhelming majority of testifiers advocated for river restoration/dam removal.)
Perhaps one of the most important inclusions in the report is the adoption of this “overarching principle:" that it “recognize Tribal dependence on salmon and steelhead to meet spiritual, cultural, subsistence, and economic needs as a prevailing necessity of their culture and society. Honor federal treaty, executive order, and trust obligations to the Columbia Basin Tribes.” This is a long-overdue and substantial moral commitment that we must uphold. It is significant that the authors recognize that salmon and steelhead are critically important to tribal communities:
"Columbia Basin Tribes could rightly be called “Salmon People” for how completely these sacred fish shape their culture, diets, societies, and religions. These fish are so fundamental to Tribes that they have developed cultural practices and ceremonies to honor their existence and to maintain their connection and relationship to them. Salmon and steelhead came from fully functioning and productive habitat and river systems in what is now known as the Columbia and Snake Basins.”
My conclusion is that the report says what it doesn’t say, and what it wasn’t allowed to say: only complete river restoration can meet the stated mission, fulfill the overarching principles adopted, and meet the desires of Idahoans. I attended most of the workgroup meetings and I must give an ocean of credit and thanks to those who worked relentlessly to put river restoration on the table by following the science. The sportsmen, conservation organization representatives and outfitters and guides contingent persevered to give the fish and Idahoans a route to recovery. The report includes this about dam removal most likely because of the work of these people:
“Breaching the four LSRDs and investing in affected communities has been an approach some have proposed for consideration. A part of this regional dialogue has emphasized the need to prioritize Snake River issues and to provide sustainable solutions to meet the needs of fish and wildlife, Tribal treaty and trust resources, electricity, food production, transportation, and recreation.
Issues surrounding the LSRDs are complicated and highly technical. Any decisions about the maintenance or breaching of the LSRDs will require broad discussions among the region’s states, Tribes, and stakeholders, and would require congressional actions. Consensus on dam breaching and retirement could not be reached. The Workgroup encourages the State to engage the federal government, regional congressional delegates, states, Tribes, and stakeholders in a process to restore thriving and abundant salmon and steelhead fish stocks for Idaho and for the region.
We have our work cut out for us, but restoration of the Snake River and our fish, and honoring the “salmon people” is within reach in a way that we haven't seen since the dams were constructed. This is work worth doing! We're keeping our ear to the ground on what comes next, and hope you stay tuned and ready to take action to save Idaho's wild salmon.
Dave Cannamela is the chair of the Idaho Chapter's Salmon Recovery committee, and a retired fisheries biologist and former director of the MK Nature Center with Idaho's Fish & Game.