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Commentaries and editorials

Breach Snake River Dams
to Save Salmon Populations

by Henry Roller
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, March 27, 2022

Countless studies have concluded that dam breaching
is our best shot at recovering wild salmon populations.

Graphics: Predictions show natural--origin spawner abundance for the Snake River Basin will start to drop below the quasi--extinction threshold (50 spawners) within the next five years. (Molly Quinn/The Spokesman--Review) (Source: Nez Perce Tribe, staff research) Snake River salmon and the Southern Resident orcas that depend on them are on the brink of extinction. The science on preventing salmon extinction has been clear for decades. Countless studies have concluded that dam breaching is our best shot at recovering wild salmon populations. We have tried every other possible solution and spent $17 billion in the process with little to show for it. Salmon need free-flowing cold water which requires the removal of the four lower Snake River dams.

The Nez Perce Tribe recently found that nearly half of the Snake River wild spring chinook salmon populations are crossing into the quasi-extinction threshold, and in three years, if current trends continue, 77% of Snake River spring chinook populations and 44% of steelhead populations will be in a similar position. The quasi-extinction threshold means fewer than 50 spawners returned for four straight years and are potentially past the point of possible recovery.

We must take action now to prevent extinction before it is too late. Extinction is forever. We must breach the dams.

Contact Sen. Patty Murray's office at 206-553-5545 and Gov. Jay Inslee's office at 360-902-4111 and ask them to breach the four lower Snake River dams to save salmon populations.

Related Pages:
Rep. Newhouse, Dams in Your District are Doing Damage to Mine by Rep. Mike Simpson, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 5/29/21


Henry Roller
Breach Snake River Dams to Save Salmon Populations
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, March 27, 2022

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