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A step in the right direction for salmon on the Snake River
After decades of litigation, delay and dwindling salmon runs, the federal court has once again stepped in. And this time, the urgency could not be clearer. Without urgent intervention, salmon will disappear from the landscape In his February 25, 2026 opinion, Judge Michael H. Simon did not mince words. For more than 30 years, he wrote, “the abundance of these salmonids has…
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Masking decline: Why Snake River wild salmon and steelhead can’t wait
Across the Snake River Basin, wild Chinook salmon and steelhead are in serious trouble. For decades, we've seen steady erosion in population abundance, genetic diversity and productivity. And yet—some still point to hatchery returns, favorable ocean years or isolated stream projects as signs of progress. Here’s the truth: we’re masking a long-term collapse with short-term…
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Watch Meateater’s Cal investigate the Snake River dams
In the latest MeatEater video, Ryan “Cal” Callaghan heads to the Snake River to investigate the four lower dams and what they mean to salmon, steelhead and local communities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thd1OZ8QjUI Anglers, farmers, blue collar guys just drinking their morning coffee — everyone has an opinion on what these dams mean. But here’s the simple truth:…
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Solving a math problem for Snake River Chinook
Two recent studies demonstrate how dam breach paired with increased spill in the mid-Columbia would allow many Snake River spring/summer Chinook populations to reach various management goals I am sitting on my parent’s porch on a Sunday afternoon in July when the neighbors stop by to say hi. “Oh! You are a fish biologist,” they…
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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? With returns totaling nearly 100,000 steelhead over Lower Granite dam one would believe brighter days are ahead. But if history repeats itself, this is just a blip on the radar…
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Time to go all in
Current efforts are no longer cutting it for salmon and steelhead survival on the lower Snake It’s high time we admit we got it wrong; salmon and steelhead cannot survive in a highly modified river system like the lower Snake River. Despite our best intentions, the facts remain the same: Chinook salmon, steelhead and sockeye…
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Clearwater Daze
A pair of Great Lakes spey anglers share their love for Idaho’s Clearwater River, its big steelhead, and their support for breaching the Lower Snake River Dams Idaho steelhead are just built differently. They have a special kind of folk hero status in my brain, partly driven by their “Mariners and Mountaineers” reputation. Even the…
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