Snake River Salmon Solutions

Right now, millions of salmon and steelhead protected by the Endangered Species Act are getting killed in the Columbia Basin.

Industrial interests that turned the Snake and Columbia rivers into a hydroelectric and transportation factory make sure that salmon are secondary to river operations. 

Our U.S. senators and congressional representatives in the Pacific Northwest walk in lock step with the industrial interests and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), supporting the myth that any measures short of preserving the status quo would destroy the area's economy.

The Endangered Species Act, once called the most powerful environmental law in our nation, has become largely spineless when pitted against the industrial interests in the Columbia River. Solutions proposed by federal authorities and the BPA to protect the imperiled fish are small-time, marginal efforts that have failed to make any significant gains. Recovery planning has yet to demonstrate a commitment to restoring this Northwest icon. 

Pacific Northwest electric ratepayers and taxpayers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year on wasteful ineffective programs in the name of protecting salmon. Many of the industrial interests receive millions in taxpayer subsidies that are dependent on the status quo. There has to be a better way.