Numbers look good, but are they really?
If you’ve seen the recent news regarding Snake River steelhead returns, you’ve likely asked yourself, what’s the issue with the four lower Snake River dams?
We are experiencing some of our worst returns on record for both salmon and steelhead.
The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that we need a free-flowing lower Snake River to recover Idaho’s salmon and steelhead. Over several decades, multiple transparent and high-integrity scientific assessments that included Tribal, federal, University and state agency scientists have come to this same conclusion.
Unless we take bold action to change the current trajectory, these fish will continue to decline – and eventually go extinct.
We can build new rail lines, new roads, and new water infrastructure. We can redevelop and create new economic opportunities for our state and the region.
Over the past 25 years, the Snake basin has averaged less than two returning adults for every 100 smolt. Biologists from Oregon and Idaho, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and various tribes estimate that Snake River dam breaching will increase smolt-to-adult return ratios by four times.
Taking out the four lower Snake River dams would return 140 miles of habitat to a naturally functioning river and significantly reduce the time it takes for smolts to make it to the ocean.
Learn more about the science of dam removal.
If you’ve seen the recent news regarding Snake River steelhead returns, you’ve likely asked yourself, what’s the issue with the four lower Snake River dams?
Mankind’s efforts are no longer cutting it for salmon and steelhead survival on the lower Snake