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The Yankee Fork historically supported robust populations of salmon, steelhead and trout, but mining – and the intensive timber harvest that accompanied it – reduced what once was a complex, meandering river into a virtual flume.
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Kris spent a decade in TV news before starting Tight Line Media in 2006. With a quarter century of multimedia storytelling, she’s forever in search of dynamic topics. She researches the issues thoroughly, then translates the core elements via video, photo and words with the credibility that comes from experience. That credibility comes through in her series Ocean to Idaho in which she follows the 850-mile migration of salmon from the Oregon coast to the headwaters of the Snake River in Idaho.
“The headwaters of the Snake are our home waters,” said Dawkins. “We care passionately about this river from its high country beginnings all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The loss of salmon and steelhead runs in this iconic American river would be a tragedy for us all.”
We have an unparalleled opportunity here. If the dams were removed, about 46 percent of the historic spawning and rearing habitat for spring and summer Chinook Salmon and summer steelhead is still accessible. Mile-for-mile, the Snake River basin contains the coldest, most undisturbed stream habitats in the Lower 48. If we are going to make major investments in wild fish recovery in the Columbia Basin, the Snake is the place to put our money.
“I think we have a responsibility to wild fish and to wild rivers,” Link said. “In the 1800’s, the Snake River produced runs of two million fish – over half of the spring/summer Chinook salmon and summer steelhead came from this one basin. Even today, if you look at the entire Columbia River Basin, the Snake River has by far the greatest potential for recovering wild salmon and steelhead in the entire watershed.”
What if we could do it? What if we could remove those four dams and bring back real runs of these iconic fish to their natal waters? We know what that would mean to the fish, but what would it mean to the people of central Idaho? What would be the economic input of people coming from all over the world to fish, or even just to see these magnificent creatures? It would be a new lease on life not only for the river and the fish and all the species that depend on the fish, but for the communities. This isn’t just about fish, it’s about all of us.