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Redden says Dams Should Go by Staff Lewiston Tribune, April 25, 2012

Recently retired Judge James Redden told Aaron Kunz "I think we need to take those dams down," during an interview for a documentary film the Idaho Public Television and EarthFix journalist is working on.

Redden was referring to the four Lower Snake River Dams that have been at the center of a public debate over the best way to save Snake River salmon and steelhead stocks.

The judge has been a key figure in the more than 20-year old regional effort to craft a plan that reconciles the operation of the federal hydro power system on the Snake and Columbia rivers with the needs of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. Three times Redden has tossed government plans which he said did too little to protect the iconic fish. In doing so he sided with environmental groups, fishing interests and the Nez Perce Tribe who advocate breaching the dams.

Redden went on to tell Kunz the four Snake River dams "are not that needed" and said it is not technically difficult to remove dams, "it's a lot easier than it is putting them up."

While overseeing the case, Redden ordered the government to institute a regimen of spring and summer spill at the dams to help juvenile fish avoid passing through turbines during their journey to the ocean. Many observers credit that spill along with improved ocean conditions for improvements in the return of both wild and hatchery fish during the past few years.

Redden also talks about spill in the interview with Kunz. You can watch clips of the interview Redden says Dams Should Go
Lewiston Tribune, April 25, 2012