Minnick Rips Craig Ads On Dam Stance

Democratic senatorial candidate Walt Minnick says he does not support tearing down lower Snake River dams to boost salmon runs, as one of Republican incumbent Larry Craig’s latest radio ads alleges.

“That is absolutely false,” the former Boise forest products executive said Friday in Lewiston.

Craig’s campaign is airing a radio ad in Lewiston in which self-described Lewiston homemaker Nancy Boling claims Minnick supports an “extreme approach” to salmon recovery, including “calling for drawdowns and even tearing down the dams.”

Craig campaign spokesman Mike Tracy cited Minnick’s remarks in the June 26 edition of the Idaho Mountain Express newspaper.

Minnick “believes serious consideration should be given to breaching the dams,” according to the paper.

Minnick said he sent a letter to the newspaper to correct his position after he was misquoted. “Never did I state that I favored breaching any of the dams in the Columbia-Snake river system,” Minnick wrote.