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A Death Sentence for Idaho's Salmon by Gregg Servheen Spokesman-Review, March 29, 2025

As a retired state biologist, I spent a long, productive and enjoyable career working for Idahoans to preserve, protect and perpetuate all of their wildlife. But one of my biggest frustration's was watching the continuing and dramatic decline of Idaho's wild salmon.

Once swimming in Idaho waters by the millions, salmon struggle to survive. Fish scientists, managers, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, conservation groups, and tribal nations have all indicated recovery of these fish can only come from removal of the four lower Snake River dams. But now, rather than advancing this solution, Sens. Risch and Crapo and Rep. Fulcher are promoting legislation that would permanently block this critical action. What they propose is a death warrant for Idaho's wild salmon.

Their proposed Northwest Energy Security Act disregards decades of research and public input. It pushes Idaho's salmon to extinction, and proposes to erase "what makes Idaho, Idaho." In fact, the legislation prioritizes outdated infrastructure over science, economic sustainability and the commitments made to Northwest tribes. Instead of wild salmon, they would have cruise ships coming up the Columbia River to Idaho. They would have us trade a diamond for a donut and think it a good deal. We can do better.

Science is clear -- salmon are in crisis

Idaho's wild salmon populations have been in free fall for decades. Despite $25 billion invested in hatcheries, habitats, predator control and fish passage systems, wild salmon continue to decline. The simple reality is the lower Snake River dams are an insurmountable obstacle for Idaho's salmon. Their continued operation ensures Idaho's wild fish runs to the Pacific and back will disappear.

It is as important to remember that tribal nations, whose culture and being are tied to these fish as the fish are tied to them, are watching and feeling this connection die. And Idaho's anglers, outdoor recreation businesses and rural communities are also suffering and dying with our wild fish. A crisis like this should be confronted. It should not be entrenched by a failed status quo that offers no real solutions for fish, people, Idaho, or the ecosystems whose identity and health is connected to these fish.

False promise of energy security

Supporters of this legislation argue that protecting the Snake River dams is necessary for energy security. In truth, if our energy security depends on the 4% of regional electricity these dams produce, we have bigger energy problems than the dams. Real energy security for now and for the future will come through development of wind, solar, battery storage and regional energy markets. Bonneville Power Administration, the manager of the hydrosystem, knows and has acknowledged these alternatives need to be expanded and developed.

Clinging to outdated hydroelectric projects that ruin Idaho's culture, identity, waters and way of life does not make our energy system stronger; it makes it more fragile. Investing in modern, diversified power sources is the path toward true energy security -- one that does not have to come at a cost to Idaho and Idahoans. Such modern energy investments will benefit Idahoans, the Pacific Northwest, and salmon.

Threat to Idaho's economy and tribal rights

The decline of Idaho's salmon is an ecological disaster. But it is also an economic, societal and cultural one. The fishing and outdoor recreation industries that once flourished across Idaho would be replaced by cruise ships as fish populations dwindle, then disappear. Does Idaho want to become like Florida? Or a Florida imitation? While justification for keeping the Snake River dams continues to erode? While river barge traffic on the lower Snake keeps falling? And grain farmers and industry increasingly choose rail and trucking over barges?

The proposed legislation ignores the federal government's legal and moral obligations to Northwest tribes' treaty rights. Salmon are an integral part of tribal identity and sustenance. By prioritizing the preservation of outdated infrastructure over these long-standing commitments, this legislation undermines justice and ecological responsibility. And it ignores the benefits that would come to all Idahoans from the protection of tribal treaty rights and the restoration of our salmon and rivers such justice would bring.

Way forward

The proposed bill, the Northwest Energy "Insecurity Act" is a roadblock to real progress. Idaho's salmon are running out of time. We have the solutions. I ask Idaho's delegation to reject this legislation. I ask our elected leaders to commit to solutions that give Idaho, its communities, their connection to these fish a fighting chance. The future of our wild salmon is in our hands. We can do this.

Related Pages:
More on the Lower Snake River Dams Story by Gregg Servheen,Spokesman-Review, 6/3/23
For a Better Future, the Four Lower Snake River Dams Must Go by Gregg Servheen, Bend Bulletin, 2/21/23
Removing Lower Snake River Dams the Only Way to Save Salmon by Gregg Servheen, Spokesman-Review, 2/18/23
We Can Do this for Fish and Ourselves by Gregg Servheen, Post Register, 2/15/23