Dam fans to make their case

Opponents of breaching the four lower Snake River dams to recover threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead will hold an all-day symposium Thursday and make the case for keeping the structures blamed for driving the fish toward extinction.

The event hosted by the Citizens for the Preservation of Fish and Dams will be held at Walla Walla Community College in Clarkston and start at 8:30 a.m. Featured speakers include retired Army Corps of Engineers fisheries biologist John McKern, fishing outfitter Rusty Bentz and Jerry McGehee, a retired Idaho Fish and Game hatchery manager.

Organizer Marvin Dugger, a retired carpenter and the author of a once-a-month opinion column for the Lewiston Tribune, said those who attend will learn the basics of the fish and dams debate.

“It’s a pretty complicated issue and we have some highly qualified people who are going to be speaking,” he said.

The Snake River and its tributaries are home to four species of wild anadromous fish that have been protected by the Endangered Species Act for about 30 years. While the wild fish suffer from several problems including climate change, competition from hatchery fish, predation, habitat degradation, and harvest, scientists say the dams are one of the primary reasons for their poor performance. Salmon advocates have long called for the dams to be breached.

The official policy of the federal government is that the dams should remain in place and a wide range of actions that included things like habitat restoration, spilling water at the dams, predator control and harvest and hatchery reform is sufficient to keep them from going extinct. But that plan has been challenged by the Nez Perce Tribe, fishing and conservation groups and the state of Oregon that have been successful in convincing federal judges to overturn a string of similar plans.

The parties to that case are in mediation that is expected to conclude by the end of this month. Over the past three years, the Biden administration has taken a closer look at dam breaching. For example, NOAA fisheries said last year that wild Snake River salmon and steelhead cannot be recovered to healthy and harvestable levels with the dams in place. In addition, the American Fisheries Society has said breaching gives salmon and steelhead the best chase at recovery.

But the Citizens for the Preservation of Fish and Dams see other factors at play. They believe barging juvenile salmon and steelhead past the dams at a higher rate than is prescribed would lead to better returns. In addition, they believe spilling water at the dams actually harms rather than helps young fish. They also say harvestable returns of adult hatchery fish salmon and steelhead, that are released by the tens of millions as juveniles each year, prove dams are not to blame.

“It really makes our argument,” said Dugger. “From 2000 to 2015 were the best years of fish returns and survival since 1938. We have the graph, we have the facts and figures on that. That is 25 years after the last Snake River dam was built.”

Two years ago, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, proposed breaching the dams and spending $33.5 billion to mitigate affected communities and industries. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, said last year that breaching the dams would give the fish their best chance at rebounding but that it won’t be feasible until the power produced by the dams and the tug-and-barge transportation of wheat they make possible is replaced. Washington, under Inslee’s leadership, is studying how to do that.

Breaching the dams would be devastating to farmers and the regional economy, according to a report released by the Inland Ports and Navigation Group on Monday. The group, which is part of the Pacific Northwest Watewaterways Association but not participating in Thursday’s symposium, commissioned the study that indicates many of the farms in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington may go bankrupt without the dams.

“The federal system of navigation locks and hydroelectric dams on the Snake River doesn’t just provide power, irrigation, and barging,” said PNWA Policy Advisor Heather Stebbings. “It puts people to work and food on the table, pays for roads, schools, and other public services, reduces emissions, and helps improve environmental health for hundreds of thousands of people, some of whom are among our most vulnerable. They deserve a voice and a seat at the table in the discussion around the future of these dams and the Columbia Snake River System.”

More information on the symposium, including an agenda, is available at https://cfpfd.org. The event runs until about 5 p.m. but will break from noon to 1:30 p.m. Lunch will not be provided.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.