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Bring Back Our Fish by Tori Doell Idaho Press, November 14, 2019

Our band aid fixes are not working!

I have grown up in Boise, Idaho. My dad was a wildlife biologist for Fish and Game and US forest service. I grew up fishing and enjoy our great outdoors.

I have grown up understanding the balance of all species and the whole interconnectedness of our world. My dad taught me to value each species for its special part in the ecosystems. I have taught elementary school in the treasure valley for 30 years.

I started off in college wanting to be a biologist but decide I can teach our child about our wonderful world and all the species that live in it. I have also worked for the Idaho dept of Fish and Game being facilitator for their education program, Project Wild for 23 years. This program is offered to teacher K-12 across the state. Being involved with this program has given me the opportunity to be involved with fish biologist and many other biologists in the department.

I have been at the fish traps sorting wild and hatchery fish. The wild fish numbers are in desperate need of a bold solution to their survival. I have seen the declining numbers of fish over the decades.

Our band aid fixes are not working! The numbers of our wild Salmon are drastically declining. The hatchery fish allow for sport fishing only! Hatchery fish are not helping the wild Salmon and Steelhead genic pool or maintain the Wild numbers of fish.

We need drastic solutions to bring back wild fish. We’ve tried the same things over decades there are just band aids for quick fixes. We need bold ideas to bring back our fish, including putting removal of the four Lower Snake River dams on the table.