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County Officials Unite Against Breaching with Letter Written to State, U.S. Elected Officials by Kerri Sandaine Lewiston Tribune, April 11, 2023

No one can guarantee dam breaching
will assure salmonid recovery

ASOTIN -- Asotin County officials are joining other eastern Washington commissioners in firm opposition to breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams.

At Monday's commission meeting, officials approved a letter that will be signed by multiple counties that says breaching "is not the solution to restoring our anadromous fish runs."

Commissioner Brian Shinn said the recent listening sessions were biased, and Gov. Jay Inslee's plan to conduct another study on the issue is redundant.

Commissioners Chuck Whitman and Chris Seubert agreed, and would like the letter sent directly to President Joe Biden.

"There's no plan, nationally," Whitman said. "There's no plan locally."

Dam advocates were "iced out" out of listening sessions dominated by pro-breaching groups, he said.

In addition, the cards are stacked against keeping the dams by a group of "left-wing environmental activists" overseeing a Congress committee on the issue, Shinn said.

The action by eastern Washington counties was sparked by recent U.S. government listening sessions that were dominated by speakers in favor of breaching the four lower Snake River dams.

The majority of people giving input told representatives of the federal government that the river should be restored to its free-flowing state to recover wild salmon and steelhead, compared to just a handful of people who said the dams are vital to the region's economy and should be retained.

President Biden recently pledged to work with Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington to restore Snake and Columbia river salmon runs.

However, Washington U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse have introduced legislation to protect the four lower Snake River dams.

Eastern Washington county officials, including from Walla Walla, Garfield, Asotin and Whitman counties, have been working with the Salmon Recovery Board since 2006, Shinn said, along with fisheries, biologists, tribal representatives and conservation district managers.

"We have asked these experts, especially those among them that advocate for breaching of the four Lower Snake River dams, if they can guarantee that dam breaching will assure salmonid recovery. They have all answered honestly, 'No. No one can guarantee that," the letter reads.

Dam breaching proponents are "ignoring the science because it will not support dam breaching," according to the two-page letter signed Monday. "We need to work together to keep our salmon and our dams. This cannot be a zero sum game."

The letter is addressed to Murray, Cantwell, McMorris Rodgers and Newhouse. Asotin County suggested adding Biden to the list.

Related Pages:
County Leaders Speak Out Against Simpson's Proposal by Kerri Sandaine, Spokesman-Review, 2/23/21