Wild Snake River salmon and steelhead are headed rapidly for extinction, unless we take drastic action and remove the lower four Snake River dams. This is a priority at Trout Unlimited, and we spend lots of time researching, writing, and talking about this challenge.
But we know many people, including our friends, are still getting up to speed about what this all means. People want to know what the lower Snake River dams are, how they impact salmon, and how we can move forward and ensure that tribes, local communities, and our friends in the agriculture industry, are made whole.
Hardly a day goes by that our team doesn’t get asked “Why don’t they build fish ladders?” (they have!) or “Aren’t salmon doing great?” (they are not.) We answer these questions all the time in emails and phone calls. We even answered some of them in a six-part blog series. But, we thought it was time to answer them in a more egalitarian way – via Instagram. So, we recruited some of our friends from the industry to ask some of the most popular questions and we will be running those this week on our Instagram (@troutunlimited). Tune in, and if you have question, ask it and we will answer it.
The Snake River basin provides more than 50 percent of the coldwater habitat in the lower 48 for Pacific salmon and steelhead. But its rivers and streams are blocked by the lower four Snake River dams, and its fisheries are in rapid decline.
Help us by speaking up today! Tell Congress to take action to remove the lower four dams.