Scientists: Remove dams
‘Free-flowing’ river crucial to fish, society says
By KATHERINE WUTZ
Express Staff Writer
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The world’s largest organization of fisheries scientists has added its voice to the chorus of conservationists calling for the removal of four dams on the Lower Snake River to speed the recovery of wild salmon and steelhead.
The Western Division of the American Fisheries Society, an organization whose mission is to protect fish habitat nationwide, passed a resolution on Monday that called for the federal government to take a more proactive stance on removing the dams.
“If society at large wishes to restore Snake River salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey and white sturgeon to sustainable, fishable levels, then a significant portion of the lower Snake River must be returned to a free-flowing condition,” the resolution states.
The dams are under fire because of their role in blocking salmon and steelhead runs and increasing mortality of fish travelling to and from spawning grounds in the Columbia River basin and beyond. But according to the Bonneville Power Association, the dams are necessary to meet demand for electricity throughout the Pacific Northwest in peak seasons.
