Columbia, Snake Called Ailing Rivers Conservation Group Lists 10 Most Endangered Waterways

Despite two decades of environmental protection, America’s rivers are emptying themselves of fish and frogs and other living things at an alarming rate, according to a conservation group devoted to river protection.

While wolves and owls draw public attention, aquatic wildlife is becoming endangered at three times the rate of earth-bound creatures, said Rebecca Wodden, president of American Rivers, which announced its annual list of the nation’s 10 most endangered rivers on Tuesday.

The rivers flow through 35 states and range from a wild, remote stream near Yellowstone National Park to the concreted culverts of Southern California’s Los Angeles River. Fish populations are declining on six of the 10 - including the Northwest’s Columbia and Snake rivers, where endangered salmon are the biggest issue.

On the Mississippi River alone, 46 varieties of fish are extinct, endangered or declining drastically. That earned the mighty river the No. 7 spot on the list.

“When the Mississippi River makes it to a list of the 10 most endangered rivers in our country, you know we haven’t been paying attention to what matters most,” said Charles Kuralt, former CBS newscaster and a member of American Rivers’ board.

The conservation group chooses its list from rivers of national or regional significance that are facing severe threats to their health within the next year.

For the second year in a row, American Rivers named the wild, remote Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone the nation’s most endangered river. A planned gold mine has the potential to leak sulfuric acid into the river, a famous trout stream that flows out of the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, the group says.

Hydropower dams are the biggest threat to the Columbia and Snake rivers, the group said. Those Northwest waterways share the No. 3 spot. They’ve been on the list three years in a row, which is frustrating to Lorraine Bodi, American Rivers representative in Seattle.

Bodi blames the government’s inability to draft an adequate plan to restore wild salmon.

The declining salmon population is expected to reach a record low this year, she said. Fewer than 12,000 wild Snake River spring chinook are expected to reach the Bonneville Dam this year, compared with 49,000 last year and 100,000 in 1993.

American Rivers wants the National Marine Fisheries Service to move quickly toward springtime reservoir drawdowns, which would help flush young salmon to the ocean. That’s expensive, but can be paid for in part by ending federal subsidies to the aluminum industry, Bodi said.

Lynn Baker of the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the dams, disputed Bodi’s claim that its customers are subsidized.

The power rates that the aluminum industry pays go up and down with the price of aluminum, Baker said.

“Bonneville is in a newly competitive situation now, and we no longer are able to raise our rates. That is the challenge we are trying to meet as we take responsibility for saving fish and wildlife, too.”