The Herald Editorial Board needs to be applauded for its recent editorial about the lower Snake River dams and salmon (“Waiting could force bad choice on dams, salmon,” The Herald, July 5).
It specifically refers to declining fish counts; upstream on the Snake River drainage where salmon spawn. Listed as the problem dams are the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite dams; implicated as contributing to the demise of salmon. All of these dams have fish ladders. All of these dams are counting fish, not just salmon, but dozens of migratory fish species as well.
The fish count facts don’t support the thesis that these dams are the cause of demise of salmon runs in the upper Snake River. Not mentioned in this report are the Brownlee and the Oxbow dams further up stream. These two dams have no fish ladders. These two dams are earthen fill and rock fill designs and generate small amounts of electricity. These two dams represent the major blockage to spawning beds in the upper Snake River riparian feeders. This article lists only one tribal voice, that of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, no where close to the Snake River. Gov. Jay Inslee should know this and so too Sen. Patty Murray, but no mention of these dams are in this Herald report. It is time to get rid of these two small dams. The other dams listed are massive structures and support migration of fish up stream.
Samuel Bess
Stanwood
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