Give salmon a fighting chance

When the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition navigated down the Columbia River in 1805, they observed well-fed native tribes whose diet was centered on the salmon that migrated up and down the river in wild abundance. The same easy availability of salmon also nourished the native people who lived along the shores of the Salish Sea for countless generations.

Salmon once constituted this region’s most quintessential and ubiquitous species, but, for a long time now, they have been growing more scarce. One major stress factor causing the numbers of fish to dwindle is the loss of access to spawning grounds that have been blocked by dams on rivers, from the Skagit to the Columbia and the Snake. Those dams bring nonpolluting, inexpensive power to our cities and towns, supply the water that transforms inland deserts into productive farmland and allow barges to move grain and other commodities. Those are huge benefits for us all, but, when the dams were built, salmon were left out of the equation.

Now, there is growing pressure from the tribes, from environmentalists, from fishing interests and from some political leaders to recalculate the costs and benefits. Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray are backing a study to determine the effects of breaching four Lower Snake River Dams to help restore salmon runs. Meanwhile, Seattle City Light is being challenged to build fish passages on the utility’s Skagit River dams.

Nothing is resolved, yet, and there is plenty of resistance to shifting the status quo, but it is becoming more clear that there may be innovative ways to help the salmon without unduly impacting the interests of those who rely on the river for electric power and irrigation. The tribes that have been here since long before Lewis and Clark are playing a key role in the debate as they seek fulfillment of treaty rights that were promised back when American pioneers flooded the Northwest and expropriated tribal lands.

A new plan for the dams does not have to be a losing proposition for anyone. Rather it could be a win for our salmon and a long-sought reprieve from extinction.

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