Questions from Orca Task Force

If the four Lower Snake River (LSR) dams are breached...

Q. What is the role of BIA, BPA, EPA, FS, FWS, NOAA, NRCS, USACE, USBR, USGS?

A. These ten federal agencies that comprise the Columbia Basin Federal Caucus, all incorporate in their agency missions, some aspect of salmon habitat and/or long-term sustainability of these species.

Each of these agencies were notified (mid-September 2018) that NOAA is ignoring their Early Warning Indicator now triggered by Snake River Steelhead population decline.

1.7 Authority (from FR/EIS Section 1)
In particular, the ESA requires all Federal agencies to ensure that actions taken by the agency are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a species that has been listed as threatened or endangered or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. In addition, the ESA provides agencies with the responsibility to carry out programs for the conservation of listed species.

Endangered Species Act
ESA DEFINITIONS: "conservation" means to use and the use of all methods and procedures which are necessary to bring any endangered species or threatened species to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act are no longer necessary (aka. de-listing).

Breaching is reversible, extinction and ecosystem collapse is not.

The concept of sustainability has been increasingly brought into focus as we have become convinced that all systems on earth are interrelated and that many of today's problems were the solutions of yesterday. Sustainability is, however, a very old concept. Most American Indian cultures understood the importance of sustainability and sustainable development, living in harmony with all things.

Many people are familiar with the Seventh Generation philosophy commonly credited to the Iroquois Confederacy but practiced by many Native nations. The Seventh Generation philosophy mandated that tribal decision makers consider the effects of their actions and decisions for descendents seven generations into the future. There was a clear understanding that everything we do has consequences for something and someone else, reminding us that we are all ultimately connected to creation.