Editorial’s focus on treaty fishing rights was correct

Breach the dams, or breach the treaties? That’s the question that arises from the Herald’s thoughtful Feb. 29 editorial, “Two works in progress to save Columbia Basin salmon.”

It’s interesting that one thing the defenders of the Lower Snake River dams don’t want to talk about is Northwest Tribes’ fishing rights under the treaties they signed with the U.S. government. They’re happy to talk about the fish; doing just fine according to them, happily coexisting with the dams. They’ll spend all day on scare stories about blackouts or exorbitant rate increases if the dams are breached. The’ll bemoan the fate of farmers if a free-flowing lower Snake is restored. But they don’t want to talk about the treaty rights, and the harm done to the People of the Salmon.

The Herald is absolutely right: “Breach of those treaties — in the extinction of salmon and steelhead, and the further erosion of tribal communities and cultures — would be an inexcusable injustice and a loss for all.”

Marjorie Fields

Edmonds