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Senator says Snake River Dams Will Remain by Associated Press Salt Lake Tribune, August 22, 2003

HAILEY, Idaho -- U.S. Sen. Larry Craig insists Congress would never allow breaching of four lower Snake River dams to help salmon runs, no matter what former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt thinks.

The former Clinton administration secretary was in Ketchum on Tuesday for a fund-raiser for salmon recovery. Babbitt said the dams must be breached to save the wild runs.

Craig cited the recent salmon runs which are records for the years in which the dams have been in place. President Bush plans to visit Ice Harbor Dam on the lower Snake today.

Congress' resolve not to breach the dams was bolstered by the recent energy crisis, Craig said. If hydroelectric power generated by the Northwest dams (of which the 4 Lower Snake River dams comprise about 10%) had to be replaced with other sources, he said, it would increase the per-kilowatt-hour cost between 200 and 300 percent.

"I'm not willing to wipe out the Northwest economy for the fish," Craig said.