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Commentaries and editorials

Contradiction in California Plan

by Rob French
Seattle Times, September 21, 2009

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, 10 miles up the Snake River from its confluence with the Columbia River, is under consideration for breaching. (ACOE photo) It does not take a Ph.D. in biology to see the abandonment of science behind the latest salmon-recovery plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers. All one needs to do is look at the way NOAA addresses Puget Sound killer whales.

Despite a recent NOAA finding that salmon-killing dams in California threaten Puget Sound orcas, NOAA's Columbia and Snake rivers plan stumbles to the unsupported conclusion the Columbia Basin dams are unlikely to adversely affect those very same Puget Sound killer whales.

California's plan states hatchery fish cannot replace wild fish for purposes of providing adequate prey for orcas, while the Columbia plan relies wholly on hatchery fish to maintain orca populations.

The contradictory treatment smacks of political manipulation that we hoped we had left behind with Obama's inauguration.


Rob French, Seattle
Contradiction in California Plan
Seattle Times, September 21, 2009

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