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Orca Stripped Thin by Howard Garrett Seattle Times, November 10, 2007

The new Federal Salmon Plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers is no better than the previous plans that have been rejected because they fail to provide salmon access to vital habitat in the upper reaches of the Snake River.

The resulting depletion of salmon runs and all the plants and animals that survive on an annual bounty of salmon far upriver is very real and very tragic.

Also very real are the 87 endangered southern resident orcas that depend for their survival on those chinook returning to the Columbia and Snake rivers each year, as they have for centuries. As the salmon disappear, the orcas go hungry.

The best science tells us that to revitalize Snake River habitats, we'll need to bypass the dams that block fish passage, and that dam removal, combined with a variety of economic investments, will bring benefits to upriver communities.

Where are the leaders who are able to see and describe the disastrous effects of dwindling salmon runs, who will guide habitat restoration and economic revitalization along the Snake River?

Related Pages:
The opinions and supporting documents are available here.
Idaho's Sockeye: FCRPS Biological Opinion NOAA Fisheries' Executive Summary, 10/31/7