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The Science is In: Bypass the Dams Idaho Rivers United Newsletter, August 1999

1999 marks a pivotal year in the battle to save Idaho's ocean-going fish. Over the next six months, the federal government and the people of the Northwest will decide whether Idaho will keep the magnificent wild salmon and steelhead runs that have graced our rivers for over 10,000 years.

Under court order, the Clinton Administration must produce a plan to save Snake River salmon and steelhead by the end of 1999. Two major documents will lay out the Administration's plan. The Corps of Engineers will release a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) in October, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will make the actual 1999 decision via a biological opinion early next year.

Three major recovery options are under consideration. The first is to maintain the status quo. A recent study found this option would likely drive wild chinook runs into extinction by the year 2017. The second option would increase juvenile fish barging and take huge amounts of water from southern Idaho. This amounts to doing even more of what hasn't worked for the past 25 years while taking the very lifeblood away from southern Idaho farmers and irrigators. Conservative estimates show this would dry up 350,000 acres of farmland. The third alternative is the natural river option, also known as bypassing or breaching the four lower Snake River dams. The vast majority of scientists say this option offers the best and only chance of restoring our wild salmon and steelhead runs. The probability of recovery under this scenario ranges from 80 - 90 percent.

URGENCY IS CRITICAL

Little question remains about which path must be taken if wild salmon and steelhead are to be saved. Virtually all of the science says we must now choose between salmon and dams. The rationale for this decision is clear. First, Northwest ratepayers and taxpayers have spent $3 billion on salmon recovery over the past 15 years with nothing to show for it. The current system of pumping out millions of hatchery fish every year and loading them into barges and trucks has done nothing to stop the decline of our wild runs. Removing only four dams -- out of over 400 in the Columbia basin -- will restore our salmon runs and stop the financial bleeding.

We know that dams are the major culprit because our salmon runs have declined by 90 percent over the past 25 years while downriver stocks have held steady. Downriver stocks now survive to adulthood at rates two to ten times higher than Idaho's fish. Before the lower Snake dams were built, Idaho's salmon used to survie at rates equal to or greater than their downriver cousins. These downriver fish share the same life cycles and faced the same ocean conditions, predators, and commercial fishing as Idaho's fish. The only difference is Idaho's salmon face eight dams, while downriver stocks face four or less.

Idaho's salmon need a more natural, free-flowing river in order to survive their journey to the ocean and back. The Gem State still has 4,000 miles of prime spawning and rearing habitat that lies vacant because salmon are not surviving the dams. Bypassing the dams is the only option that will re-open the historic migration corridor that is so vital to Idaho's salmon. Central Idaho's majestic wilderness will never be complete without wild salmon and steelhead.

Scientists across the board agree that nothing short of bypassing the dams is likely to save our salmon and steelhead. The salmon need it, the region can afford it, and our electric rates will still be the cheapest in the nation by a long shot.

The biggest question that remains is whether enough people will speak up on behalf of the salmon during the next six months. Will you?

Join the Action Network!

After the Army Corps' plan is released, a series of public hearings will be held across the state. It is critically important for salmon advocates to attend at least one of these hearings to support the dam bypass option. In the meantime, we need an army of salmon warriors to write letters to our elected leaders. We have organized several salmon work groups throughout Idaho.

Contact Dan at Idaho Rivers United to get involved in our statewide activist network. (208)343-7481

Make Contact! Please write to our leaders.

Rep. Helen Chenoweth 1727 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515-1201 202-225-6611 (phone) 202-225-3029 (fax) ask.helen@mail.house.gov Rep. Mike Simpson 1440 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515 202-225-5531 (phone) 202-225-8216 (fax) mike.simpson@mail.house.gov Sen. Mike Crapo 111 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 202-224-6142 (phone) 202-228-1375 (fax) Sen. Larry Craig United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20515-1203 202-224-2752 (phone) 202-228-1067 (fax) larry_craig@craig.senate.gov

Governor Dirk Kempthorne PO Box 83720 Boise, ID 83720-0034 phone: 208-334-2100 governor@governor.state.id.us Vice President Al Gore Office of the Vice-President Old Executive Office Building Washington, D.C. 20500 202-456-7125 phone 202-456-7044 fax vice.president@whitehouse.gov President Bill Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 202-456-1111 phone 202-456-2461 fax president@whitehouse.gov