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Undammed Snake Won't Save Salmon by John and Judy Cox Tri-City Herald, November 8, 2021

While salmon are a Pacific Northwest icon, they are much more than that to the indigenous people of the region, the Wykanushpum or salmon people. Salmon have helped them survive for thousands of years and are an integral part of their culture and traditions. The salmon are to these people as the buffalo were to the Dakota, an indigenous people living in the northern great plains of North America.

History marks what happened to the buffalo, which were driven nearly to extinction over a matter of two decades. Now they are a tourist attraction on a national preserve. Don't we teach history to help us learn from our mistakes?

The salmon have been on a decline for well over 100 years in spite of all the studies, recommendations and attempts to reverse their decline. We are going to be sorely disappointed if we believe the proposed removal of a few lower Snake River dams will ensure salmon recovery. The salmon's demise and road toward extinction is made up from many anthropogenic causes, rooted in H. sapiens' first attitude. We believe reversing their demise will require an extraordinary collaborative effort on all the underlying problems.

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