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TU’s Wood Gives Testimony on Lower Snake River Dams
Near the dramatic jagged peaks of the Teton mountains sits Jackson Lake Dam.
During a virtual federal listening session on the Columbia River Basin, people from across the country called on the Biden Administration to move forward with the removal of the lower Snake River dams. Nearly 60 people testified during the listening session, with more than two-thirds or participants calling on the administration to take action on…
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Snake River Flows Secured, For Now
Near the dramatic jagged peaks of the Teton mountains sits Jackson Lake Dam. Built in the early 1900s by the Bureau of Reclamation to control lake levels for irrigation in Idaho and reduce flooding for a rising local population, Jackson Lake Dam drives water into the Snake River and its interconnected aquatic ecosystem. The Snake…
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Empowered: Lights out for wild salmon
Salmon in the Snake River Basin must navigate eight major dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho. Four on the Columbia River and four on the Snake. Removal of the four Snake River dams could help quickly declining wild salmon populations recover, which is why there is significant momentum behind the growing effort to remove…
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Dams Complicate Fish Migration
Science shows downstream passages wreak havoc on migratory fish Anadromous fish have it rough. Not only do these fish swim miles and miles from their natal streams out to the ocean to grow while surviving its many predators and then swim all the way back to spawn, but we also throw dams in their way…
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It’s time to step up for the Snake
Editor’s note: This article by Rob Masonis, Walt Pollack, and Bryan Jones was originally published in the Idaho Statesman. The Snake River Basin should be the largest wild salmon and steelhead stronghold in the continental United States, with its cold, clean water fed by high-mountain snow and its thousands of miles of high-quality habitat—much of…
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Steel dreams: Driving home what’s at stake on the Snake
People often refer to rivers of the Northwest as some of the last truly “wild” places in the Lower 48. The Clearwater River in Idaho is one of those places. The Clearwater is well known throughout the Northwest for its iconic salmon and steelhead runs, particularly its B-run steelhead that spend approximately two years in…
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Your Snake Questions – Answered
Here are six frequently asked questions about taking down the dams and restoring critical populations of wild fish in the Basin.
We are experiencing some of our worst returns on record for wild salmon and steelhead. 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…
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