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Commentaries and editorials

Act to Recover Fish

by James McSherry
The Columbian, June 18, 2006

Former Idaho Gov. and Jimmy Carter administration Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus releases a hatchery-reared sockeye salmon at Redfish Lake in the early 1990s. (1994 Idaho Mountain Express - Willy Cook) Kudos to Don Brunell for being brave enough to print a true yet unpopular May 30 column, "Breaching Snake dams will hurt economy." The biggest killer of salmon are unfavorable ocean conditions, not dams. The dams create cheaper electricity during times of higher energy prices. Not to mention irrigation in a region that is third in the world and first in America at shipping grain.

Taking the four Snake River dams out is not the silver bullet some readers and writers would have you believe. It would however do real damage to not just Southwest Washington but to the entire state and regional economy.

If the salmon are so endangered why do we allow fishing? If you want to take action to save the salmon, stop fishing and do your part.



James McSherry, Vancouver, Washington
Act to Recover Fish
The Columbian, June 18, 2006

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