Right now, Congress is considering significant infrastructure and reconciliation legislation. Within this legislation, there is potential to include funding for Snake River salmon recovery and orca. We must urge our representatives to step up and seize this critical window of opportunity.
There are currently two main proposals for what this could look like. Rep. Blumenauer is working closely with Rep. Simpson of Idaho on the Columbia Basin Initiative to recover salmon and invest in energy, transportation and communities. Read more about the Simpson proposal in our May 4th blog post: “Restoring the Snake River and its Salmon is a Social Justice Issue.”
The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) have also passed a resolution to support the Simpson proposal. Their resolution called on President Biden and Congress to ensure that, “funding is set aside now, at this critical ecological juncture for salmon and orca, to implement the bold actions for salmon and river restoration identified in the framework of Congressman Simpson’s Energy and Salmon legislative proposal, including restoring the lower Snake River by breaching the four lower Snake River dams.” The ATNI is a regional organization of tribes and American Indians from Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, and Northern California. They spoke powerfully for salmon, orca, treaties, and people. Our elected leaders must heed their call, the truth they speak, and the leadership they are providing.
On May 14th, Senator Murray and Governor Inslee of Washington announced a stakeholder initiative to develop a comprehensive, long-term solution to protect and restore salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin, including the potential removal of the four lower Snake River dams. While it was disappointing that they chose not to embrace and build off the strong foundation that Rep. Simpson put forward, we believe the Murray/Inslee initiative could advance a solution—if key elements are included. The Simpson proposal will also undoubtedly inform and substantially benefit this process since it was crafted by conducting over 300 conversations with stakeholders, public officials, NGO’s and tribes.
For the Murray/Inslee initiative to succeed, several essential elements must be built into the process. These include:
- The process must be time bound and the work completed expeditiously (within 9-10 months) so that the Northwest delegation can deliver on the solution while they control the reins of power in key committees in Congress.
- We must be guided by the best available science which shows that recovery of Snake River salmon and steelhead requires removal of the lower Snake River dams.
- It is essential that we secure substantial upfront funding. Any solution will require sufficient resources to fund the necessary infrastructure investments that will be needed for a comprehensive solution.
- We must respect and honor the sovereignty and rights of Native American Tribes and the treaties that have been made. The commitment to “honor Tribal Treaty Rights” must be backed up by deeds.
Ultimately, Congress has to deliver the solution and therefore we need leadership from the Oregon Senators, Wyden and Merkley, along with the other House members from the Oregon congressional delegations. Please take a moment to contact the two U. S. Senators and your member of congress and ask them to act expeditiously (use the four message points above) to save Snake River salmon and orca.
Senator Wyden: 202-224-5244
Senator Merkley: 202-224-3753
Switchboard Number for House Members: 202-225-3121