Snake River salmon: Let’s give credit where credit is due

Last week Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) turned up the volume on the issue of recovering Snake River salmon and steelhead.   Not that the issue wasn’t front and center for him before. He has been battling to find ways to bring back Idaho’s dwindling salmon and steelhead populations for years.  But now that a long-anticipated Draft Environmental Impact Statement has outlined a “business as usual” approach – indeed, the preferred alternative does…

Broad coalition urges Northwest governors to action on salmon, steelhead

Editor’s note: The following was delivered today to Govs. Kate Brown (Ore.), Steve Bullock (Mont.), Jay Inslee (Wash.) and Brad Little (Idaho) from a coalition power companies, conservation groups, the transportation sector and community utility coops. Feb. 24, 2020 Dear Governors Brown, Bullock, Inslee and Little: The debate over the management and impacts of the…

Dear Governor Brown: Thank you.

By Chrysten Lambert, Oregon Governor Kate Brown did a tough thing last week.   In a letter to Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Brown took a bold position on creating a better future for her constituents by committing to finding collaborative, science-based solutions for restoring the Snake River.  As salmon and steelhead populations continue to dwindle, the Pacific Northwest faces a choice: Maintain the status quo or come together…

Conservation and timber interests agree to changes to Oregon forest practices

Today, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced a historic agreement between conservation groups and timber companies that represents an important first step in a process that will see the most significant update of Oregon’s Forest Practices Act in decades.  This agreement, formalized as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the timber industry and major conservation groups, should deliver…

Wild steelhead diversity is key to long-term survival

By Eric Crawford If only it was as simple as an adipose fin.   The presence of an adipose fin is universally recognized as the mark. An individual with an adipose fin is, with a few exceptions, considered a wild steelhead. On the other hand, those marked, clipped, or ad-intact fish, they are the hatchery ones. Although it is…