Port Director: Salmon Plan Hurts Shipping

The Port of Portland’s ranking as the nation’s top wheat shipping point could be endangered by a plan to save the Snake River’s dwindling salmon runs, its director cautions.

Mike Thorne on Tuesday said he objects to putting that status at risk without at least fully reviewing the costs. He visited Lewiston Tuesday to speak about the issues facing the Columbia-Snake River system.

Idaho salmon advocates say drawing down the lower Snake River reservoirs for a time in the spring is the last chance for saving the sockeye and chinook runs. That would shut down the Port of Lewiston from reaching the ocean.

The Northwest Power Planning Council’s December call for drawdowns eventually could sink the Inland Northwest’s economy, Thorne warned.

A wheat farmer and 17-year veteran of the Oregon Legislature, he has been with the port for four years.

At its simplest, the threat posed by a drawdown-based salmon plan weakens the reliability of barge shipping.

“You can’t turn a transportation system on and off like a spigot and expect the system to be there when you need it,” Thorne said.