Support salmon recovery

I was encouraged to read a recent newspaper on Gov. Brad Little’s task force to promote salmon and steelhead recovery to Idaho waters. The task force includes participants from hydropower, railroads, Native American tribal groups, ranchers, farmers, outfitters and fishing guides.

The article explained that decades-long salmon/steelhead recovery efforts have been essentially ineffective and the issue of breaching the four dams on the Snake River must be addressed. This has been a traditionally contentious issue among these various groups. This coalition has now agreed, after years of wrangling, that the time for cooperation and problem-solving has come. They determined that none of the challenges to breaching these dams on the Snake are insurmountable.

This is good news. It is a recognition that previous efforts for fish recovery have been incomplete and that it is time for serious discussions about breaching. As Patrick Wilson, professor of Natural History at the University of Idaho, states, “We are not recovering salmon, we are merely preventing them from going extinct.”

The effort is receiving political recognition/support from Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. This is a complicated issue that will take time to see through to completion. Meanwhile, the salmon and steelhead numbers are dwindling. Please contact your representatives encouraging them to support the momentum provided by the salmon/steelhead recovery task force.

Thomas Benson

Worley, Idaho