It’s true there are several factors affecting salmon and steelhead populations (“Editorial: Waiting could force bad choice on dams, salmon,” The Herald, July 3). The recent editorial pointed to ocean conditions and data collected by David Welch, whose work has been described as not only technically flawed, but also misleading, according to scientists at the independent, federally funded Fish Passage Center. Moreover, the question of ocean conditions and salmon was directly addressed in a letter signed by 10 scientists. They cited the tremendous body of scientific analysis that clearly demonstrates the importance of the freshwater phase of the salmon and steelhead life-cycle. This begins from eggs in gravel, to migration to the ocean as smolts, and to the return migration, from river entry to spawning grounds as adults.
Scientists agree that of all the factors, the four lower Snake River dams are the one factor that we can control, the one factor that will have the greatest impact on salmon recovery; and removing the earthen portions of them is the one solution we haven’t tried.
Bob Rees
NW Guides and Anglers Association
Clackamas, Ore.
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