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Missed Opportunity by Joan Green Seattle Times, May 21, 2021

Re: "Gov. Inslee, Washington state's U.S. senators reject GOP congressman's pitch on Lower Snake River dam removal" [May 14, Environment]:

Why won't our Washington leaders listen to us? We are demanding urgent action now for salmon and orca that are dying. We have a very small window to save them. Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray are making a negligent choice to reject the proposal from U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, that could have earmarked money for dam removal in President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan.

This was our chance to take action. Waiting any longer will detrimentally affect these beloved species. Simpson already based his framework on hundreds of stakeholder meetings and outreach to address the challenges facing salmon, Northwest tribes and communities. His proposal is not perfect, as we need to move forward in months, not years. But it was a good start and something that could have reached their goals of a regional process to address this ecological and economic crisis.

We expect Inslee and Murray to listen to scientists who clearly state that salmon will go extinct if we don't restore the Lower Snake River and remove four dams there. They must put money toward this effort immediately and look to the Native American tribes as full partners in developing their plan.