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Montana Congressmen Rail Against Dam Removal by Tom Lutey Billings Gazette, December 13, 2023

More than 100,000 Montanans will be affected by an eventual
settlement between the federal government and tribes.

Montana's U.S. representatives railed against a proposed federal settlement with Pacific Northwest tribes that could lead to the removal of four dams along the Lower Snake River.

U.S. Reps Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale joined fellow Republicans on the House Water, Wildlife and Fisheries to blast the settlement intended to address tribal treaty rights to a viable salmon fishery.

The hearing titled "Left in the Dark: Examining the Biden Administration's Efforts to Eliminate the Pacific Northwest's Clean Energy Production," occurred just days before a court deadline requiring parties in the lawsuit, brought by tribes, to produce a settlement proposal.

Pacific Northwest lawmakers opposed to the plan caused a stir earlier this month by publishing a portion of a Lower Snake River settlement proposed by President Joe Biden's administration. The proposal called for removal of the dams to restore salmon fisheries, though not without congressional approval and not before new irrigation and sources of electricity generation were created.

The dams produce hydropower available to the region's electric cooperatives, including Western Montana co-ops stretching from Libby to West Yellowstone, which are entitled to energy from Bonneville Power Administration. More than 100,000 Montanans will be affected by an eventual settlement between the federal government and tribes. Zinke, Montana's Western District representative, said too many people affected by the dam removal were left out of the settlement.

A Trout Unlimited witness at the hearing explained the group's non-involvement resulted from it not being a party in the lawsuit.

(bluefish notes: this article does not provide the explanation that was given. Why would that be?)

At its foundation, the government's proposed settlement with Yakama Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, isn't different in principle from the water settlements reached between the federal government and tribes located in Montana. Treaties are legally binding, a detail not discussed during Tuesday's two-hour subcommittee hearing.

Both Zinke and Rosendale have American Indian communities in their districts. Zinke played a role in getting the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact passed through Congress and signed into law. Years later, many Republicans in the Greater Flathead Valley oppose the treaty-based settlement.

Each tribe involved in the Pacific Northwest settlement has a treaty right to harvest salmon from the Columbia River basin as a means of preserving their way of life. The parties have until Friday, Dec. 15 to submit an agreement to a federal judge.

The settlement documents released earlier this month state that salmon are dwindling to extinction and that Lower Snake River Dams are contributing to the decline.

Each tribe involved in the Pacific Northwest settlement has a treaty right to harvest salmon from the Columbia River basin as a means of preserving their way of life. The parties have until Friday, Dec. 15 to submit an agreement to a federal judge.

The settlement documents released earlier this month state that salmon are dwindling to extinction and that Lower Snake River Dams are contributing to the decline.

Trout Unlimited, a group that endorsed former President Donald Trump's appointment of Zinke as secretary of Interior in 2017, a post the Montanan resigned from under scrutiny two years later, disagrees with Rosendale's take on the science. The cold-water fisheries conservation group not only supports the removal of the dams, but also says half measures, like barging fish around the dams, or breeding salmon in upstream hatcheries, won't work. The science according to TU indicates that each dam on the Lower Snake River cuts historical production around each location by 13% to 44%.

TU witness Lindsay Slater said concerns about declines in available power and energy cost increases due to scarcity, were overstated.

"I have a hard time with the premise that power rates are going up that much when we're talking at most 15% of Bonneville's hydro off the system," Slater said.