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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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Working to save a species
TU’s tireless work to protect and restore the South Fork Snake River’s native Yellowstone Cutthroat For a fly angler, it is hard to beat the slow, deliberate rise of a wild Yellowstone cutthroat coming up through the water column to sip a dry fly. It is one of the truly iconic moments defining the experience…
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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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Watch: “Strengthening the Snake”
The Snake River is a vital lifeline coursing through the heart of Teton County, Wyoming. Facing dynamic challenges, the river’s mainstem can fluctuate from 30,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to just 280 cfs in a single season––a flow reduction of 90 percent. Combined with human-driven changes resulting in riverbank erosion, land loss and degraded…
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The True Cast – Just knowing they’re in there
My friend David’s house was right on the river. He was kind enough to let me park there and fish the big bend out back. And often times, he’d come out on his porch to chat with me as I made some casts. I remember one evening in particular, when a burst of hatching mayflies…
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By the numbers on the Snake
Understanding the metrics used to evaluate and represent recovery of wild salmon and steelhead in the Snake River basin is an exercise worthy of a Ph.D. From annual abundance numbers, to understanding Endangered Species Act delisting criteria, to smolt-to-adult return ratios (SARs) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) survival statistics, the numbers can…
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