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Remove Lower Snake River Dams by Marjorie Millner The Columbian, April 9, 2023

The dams violate tribal treaties and the Endangered Species Act.

Northwest salmon and orca are on the brink of extinction. Scientific analysis confirms that the greatest opportunity we have to prevent salmon extinction and restore their abundance is to breach the four Lower Snake River dams. President Joe Biden must use an executive order to make this happen this winter. The other stakeholders have other ways to do what they use the dams to do. The salmon have no alternatives. They must have the river.

Barging is hugely subsidized by the taxpayers. Subsidize farmers equally to ship by rail. Irrigation can be done from a flowing river. Use the billions of dollars currently being spent on failed hatcheries and fixing the dams' oil leaks to replace the dams with solar and wind power and help consumers conserve power.

The dams violate tribal treaties and the Endangered Species Act. They must go.

The federal government must work with Northwest policymakers and use resources from the American Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act to develop and urgently implement a comprehensive plan to replace the services of the four Lower Snake River dams, and move quickly to restore a free-flowing river by removing its four costly, deadly dams.