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Fund Snake River Dam Study by Karl Mueller The Register-Guard, June 8, 2007

The Register-Guard's May 25 editorial "Another flawed plan" fairly summarizes some of the issues surrounding the lower Snake River dams.

The Snake River salmon recovery plan has been found to be illegal three times; presiding U.S. District Judge James Redden has indicated that he will not tolerate another illegal plan. For two Snake River salmon species the time for action has long since passed.

Snake River sockeye are already extinct, as are Snake River coho. Snake River chinook continue an inevitable slide toward extinction, yet there is still time to act. A bill in Congress would fund nothing more than an objective study of the costs and benefits associated with these dams. It seems prudent to examine the situation and act on the basis of the best available information.

This bill has broad support in the House including the support of Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Rep. Peter DeFazio, who in his last campaign received $27,000 (one of his largest supporters) from a political action committee titled Action Committee for Rural Electrification National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, does not support the act. His position reeks of Bush-like special interest pandering.

DeFazio opposes this bill because he knows that the only way to serve his special interest cronies is to prevent objective information from entering the public domain. DeFazio has made it clear with whom he stands; the time has come to let him know where we stand.