It has been a very busy July and early August. We are in the window when Senator Murray and Governor Inslee have said they intend to put forward a plan to protect Snake and Columbia River salmon including a decision on breaching the four lower Snake River dams. There are also new developments related to the long running litigation challenging the failed salmon “recovery” plans by the federal agencies. Here is a quick update.
- July 11th was the close of the comment period on the Draft Lower Snake River Dams (LSRD) Benefit and Replacement Report requested by Senator Murray and Governor Inslee. Sierra Club and other groups submitted detailed comments and tens of thousands of people provided comments in support of removing the dams and replacing their services. The draft report demonstrated that it is not possible to avoid extinction or achieve recovery of Snake River salmon without breaching the dams. The report further showed that we could responsibly and affordably replace the services they currently provide. The final report from the consultant is expected to be released by the end of August. The decision by Senator Murray and Governor Inslee on their draft salmon plan and dam removal is expected along with, or shortly after, the release of the final report.
- Also in early July, the Biden Administration released a report that was a scientific synthesis of the many studies and reports as well as the work done by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This report by NMFS and the USFWS concluded that, “For Snake River stocks, it is essential that the lower Snake River be restored via dam breaching. They called for immediate action to reduce hydro-system impacts for salmon and steelhead in the Snake River, describing dam removal as the “centerpiece” recovery action for Snake River stocks. This important report aligns the federal scientists with state and tribal scientists who long studied the issue.
- On August 4, the parties to the litigation challenging the illegal and inadequate 2020 federal agency plan for salmon for the Snake and Columbia Rivers, including the Sierra Club, asked the court to extend the agreement to pause that litigation for up to another year. The Nez Perce Tribe and State of Oregon as separate plaintiffs also joined in this request which the court quickly granted. The request to extend the litigation is based on the Biden Administration’s unequivocal commitment to urgent and bold action and new direction for salmon restoration in the Columbia and Snake River Basin. Bill Arthur, for Sierra Club, said in the press release announcing this action that, “The Biden Administration has made clear that business as usual is ‘not working’ and ‘will not achieve the goals of restoring salmon populations and ecosystem function.’ Todd True, lead counsel for Earthjustice also made clear that, “if the Administration does not live up to its commitment to act urgently and boldly starting now, we will not hesitate to ask the Court to lift the say so we can return to litigation and our request for an injunction.” The Biden Administration committed to finalizing the report mentioned above as part of guiding their approach for moving forward.
While the final report and decision by Senator Murray and Governor Inslee is expected at any time, it is important for other members of the Northwest congressional delegation to step forward and support removing the lower Snake River dams as part of a comprehensive recovery and investment package that also replaces those services.
Please reach out to your local member of Congress and to Senators Wyden and Merkley (in OR) and Cantwell (in WA) and urge them to support breaching the Lower Snake River Dams as an essential action to avoid extinction, achieve salmon recovery and start meeting our treaty rights commitments to Columbia Basin Tribes.
by Bill Arthur and Irene Vlach