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Work Together for Fish Solution by Rex Miller Sr. Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, June 17, 2012

I admire Reed Burkholder's zeal and civic responsibility. We could use a few like him in our neck of the woods.

He is right they are not my dams, they belong to every citizen of the USA because, in some way, all of our tax dollars were used in the construction of said dams.

I'm not sure just how much the dams have had to do with the loss of migratory fish numbers. I do know that their life cycle is different for each year, as is the cause of fish loss. You have the commercial fishing, sports fishing, then the gill nets by the Indians through treaties signed years ago.

Let's not forget the seals in the Portland area eating salmon. I seem to recall also something about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers trying to relocate birds because they were eating the fry and salmon are part of the natural food chain.

There is no one answer to the migratory fish loss. However, the dam removal would completely destroy multi-million industries due to lack of power, storage and deep water navigation.

He stated the fish runs have been nearly destroyed by the dams from Idaho to Portland. If that is the case, how will the removal of the dams on the Snake River aid the movement of salmon if there are still have dams on the Columbia River?

Does Mr. Burkholder from Boise know that the native cutthroat trout is his state fish? Also, Henry's Fork of the Snake River is known for its superb fly fishing around the world.

Let's stop butting heads and let our efforts find a sensible answer to our common problem, migratory fish safety and movement.

One final thing: Our state Legislature put a tax on everything that could be taxed. This action harmed every state citizen - so as my civic responsibility I should eliminate the state Legislature?

As the executioner said, "Hang in there."