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No Salmon Dam on Columbia by American Rivers FlyFish News Service, April 13, 2007

Wednesday, salmon advocates hailed a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that rejected the Bush Administration's salmon plan for the Columbia-Snake River Basin. The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision that ruled illegal a federal plan for dam operations on the Columbia and lower Snake rivers for its failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

Attorneys representing the broad-based coalition of fishing business and conservation groups applauded the Court's ruling to affirm the lower court's decision.

"The Court has sent a strong message to the Administration that it cannot ignore the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and must stop manipulating the Columbia and Snake Rivers in ways that drive our region's salmon to extinction," said Steve Mashuda of Earthjustice, an attorney for the coalition of plaintiff groups. "This decision should compel the federal agencies to finally produce an analysis that looks at all recovery options including removing the four lower Snake River dams, and develop a solution that works for people and fish."

"With salmon returns continuing to decline and fishing seasons being curtailed again, it is clearer than ever that we must change the way we manage water in this basin. These court rulings set the table for our region to finally examine what is required to meet our responsibility to restore salmon in the Columbia Basin, and in the process, protect and restore the resources, economies, and way of life of the Pacific Salmon states."