Do you think the film is one-sided? Read this:
NEPA documents on ecology and economics encourage the breaching of 4 Lower Snake River dams. Beginning with the 2002 EIS, that Jim Waddell took part in, breaching the Lower Snake River dams was seen as being the best alternative for Idaho's Salmon. The NMFS 2000 Biological Opinion concluded that dam breaching on the lower Snake River is not necessary at this time, " but reserved this action as a contingency management alternative if the listed stocks continue to decline in the near future (2005 to 2008). Read an informative Letter to Editor by owner of Wapiti River Guide of Riggins, Idaho. Most recently, the 2022 NOAA Report (also mentioned in the film) Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead is unequivocal: For Snake River stocks, the centerpiece action is restoring the Lower Snake River via dam breaching... Economics: For the federal agency in charge of "marketing" federal hydropower, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) rate pressure would drop by 5.1% following Lower Snake River dam breaching (MO3) and by 15.1% if "salmon recovery" costs are slashed (Table 3-312). With little if any reason, the (Oct. 20, 2022) Record of Decision preserves the Lower Snake River dams -- despite the findings on ecology and economics (above). Multiple Objective 3 (Chapter 3, page 3-1191) Navigation and Transportation, Other Social Effects Communities that have evolved to depend on reservoir conditions..." You read that correctly, the Record of Decision (signed weeks before the 2022 election) finds value in supporting the "Communities that have evolved...". Everyone else loses. No Action Alternative (Chapter 3, page 3-1147) Navigation and Transportation, Other Social Effects Commercial Cruise Line Operations Is this story familiar to you? The few that are powerful/well-connected are the winnners.

Before Colonizers arrived ...
Redfish Lake, Idaho hosted ~25,000 adult sockeye salmon each year;
After Lower Snake River dams were built ...
Throughout the 1990's, a total of 23 Sockeye adults returned; In 1998, only 1 Sockeye returned to Redfish Lake. Idaho's forest are starved from marine derived nutrients loss that salmon once brought in huge quantities -- carbon sequestration is lost.

 

Boise is in bottom left, Grangeville is top left. Salmon River zigzags right to left in top third, with tributaries of South Fork, Middle Fork, Main Fork and East Fork coming from below.

Calls to Action
Tell your electric utility what you think of the film. (e.g. Ask if they are being honest with you?) Tell your electric utility to stop funding misinformation campaigns (e.g. Ruralite) Ask that BPA contracts -- beginning 2028 -- not include Lower Snake River hydropower. Call (206) 553-5545 to Senator Patty Murray and say: * What it is you took from watching The Snake And The Whale. * A prudent course for the Senator to take would be to call USACE Chief of Engineers advising to begin breaching Lower Snake River dams this November, with two breached before the "salmon migration window" closes in May. If he will not comply, ask why not? If she will not, then ask for reason why not? Call (360) 902-4111 to Governor Bob Ferguson and urge him to to call USACE Chief of Engineers, asserting State's rights guaranteed by Public Law 78-534 (below) to place the LSR dams in caretaker/non-operational status, since they contribute to the pending extinction of Salmon, Steelhead and Southern Resident Orcas, while costing taxpayers (and Washington electricity ratepayers) more than they are worth. If he will not comply, ask why not? Beginning reasonable discussion is often the way difficult things move forward.

Laws worth considering Public Law 78-534 Interests and rights of States (December 22, 1944)
. . . it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to recognize the interests and rights of the States in determining the development of the watersheds within their borders and likewise their interests and rights in water utilization and control, Seventy days later, Public Law 79-14 Authorizing Lower Snake River Dams (March 2, 1945)
. . . Snake River, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho: The construction of such dams as are necessary, and open channel improvement for purposes of providing slack-water navigation and irrigation in accordance with the plan submitted in House Document 704, 75th Congress, with such modifications as do not change the requirement to provide slack-water navigation as the Secretary of War may find advisable after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and such other agencies as may be concerned: Provided, that surplus electric energy generated at the dams authorized in this item shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Interior for disposition in accordance with existing laws relating to the disposition of power at Bonneville Dam; provided further, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as conferring the power of condemnation of transmission lines; . . ."

Why We Care
Northwesterners want reduced rate pressure from BPA. Unprofitably, federal Lower Snake River hydropower costing $54/MWh is sold at $37/MWh. Rate Pressure drops 5.1% immediately according to Columbia River System Operations (Multiple-Objective 3, Table 3-312) Environmental Impact Statement ("CRSO EIS"). Northwesterners want salmon restored to healthy and abundant runs, restoring the idled carbon sequestration engine of Idaho's Snake River forests recommitting to Steven’s Treaties (Article VI US Constitution) and are striving to avert the impending near-certain extinction of Southern Resident Orcas. Tell 5 friends to watch The Snake and The Whale, a Salish Sea must-see documentary. Then ask them to do the same -- and follow the Calls to Action (above).

Other Great Sites:

Information Advocacy since 1999 bluefish.org with legacy home page at bluefish.org/library.htm