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Conservationists: To Save Salmon, Dams Must Come Down by Lorien Nettleton Victoria Advance, November 14, 2022

For Snake River stocks, the centerpiece action is
restoring the lower Snake River via dam breaching

TWIN FALLS -- A group of youth climate activists held an event on the Perrine Bridge on Saturday, calling attention to the plight of salmon on the Snake River.

Holding signs like "Honk if you love salmon," and "Tribal justice," members of the Youth Salmon Protectors travelled from the Wood River Valley staged an event on the Perrine Bridge to raise local awareness of the movement to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River in order to keep salmon from going extinct.

The four lower Snake River dams -- Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite -- are located in Washington. In addition to generating power used across the Pacific Northwest, the dams provide shipping and recreational opportunities.

In September, a Federal report said that restoring healthy populations of salmon on the Snake River would only be possible through breaching of the dams.

"For Snake River stocks, the centerpiece action is restoring the lower Snake River via dam breaching," the report said.

In March of 2021, a coalition of tribal leaders called on President Biden to remove the dams to help restore salmon runs.

That same year, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson released the Columbia Basin Initiative to remove the dams to save threatened salmon and steelhead, and to develop replacement energy and transportation. The Idaho Legislature opposed the plan by voting on a joint memorial against it.

Wood River High School senior wanted to become involved in a larger issue that had local, state and national aspects.

"We used to do small projects around the valley, but recently we've decided we wanted to expand our horizon," Page said.

Youth Salmon Protectors is part of the Idaho Conservation league, and its first chapter was organized in Boise by Shiva Rajbhandari, a student at Boise High School who most recently gained fame by winning an election to Boise School District Board in September.

Page said that after seeing the way that organization had become involved in the salmon issue, she was motivated to start a chapter in the Wood River Valley.

"l really hope a lot more people start to help out with this issue, because salmon are going to go extinct in 30 years if we don't breach the dams, so we're kind of on a timeline," Page said.