Comment Period Now Open - Help Protect Wild Salmon
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (the Council) released a draft of their new Fish and Wildlife Program plan last month, which develops strategies to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” native fish populations that have been impacted by the construction of federal dams in the Columbia Basin. A public comment period on the draft is open through March 2nd.
Funding for these strategies comes primarily from Bonneville Power Administration, which is obligated to do so under the Northwest Power Act of 1980. This Congressional Act mandates the Council to consider the Fish and Wildlife Program alongside its Power Plan, both renewed on a 5-year cycle, as it aims to balance hydropower production and energy reliability, alongside protecting impacted fish populations.
In past iterations of this program, the Council has outlined important strategies for salmon recovery projects undertaken by fisheries managers across the region, improved water flow through the “hydrosystem” of dams and reservoirs, and set strong abundance goals tied directly to hydropower’s impact on salmon runs.
However, by and large the Fish and Wildlife Program has been subsumed under the Power Plan each time new plans are written. The legacy of devastation of the salmon runs caused by the initial construction of the hydrosystem has been carried forward to today in the operation of this system at the expense of native fish. This is no better exemplified than by the refusal of the Council to investigate strategies to replace the four Lower Snake River dams, which continue to bottleneck the massive recovery potential of salmon runs in Idaho.
It is clear salmon and steelhead populations are in need of transformative changes to the hydrosystem, and that stable levels of funding towards the recovery work of state and tribal fisheries managers is critical in the meantime. The abundance and survival goals for salmon that the Council has long incorporated into its Fish and Wildlife Program are not close to being met, with populations at very low levels and in long-term decline.
For these reasons, the Council has an important opportunity in front of it during this public input period. It must fully incorporate the recommendations it has been sent from fisheries managers, which call for funding for recovery projects and major tweaks to the hydrosystem that would increase the flow of water through the system of dams and reservoirs to aid fish migration and boost survival. It is time for a strong Fish and Wildlife Program that lives up to its “protect, mitigate, and enhance” mandate in regards to salmon and steelhead runs.
Stay tuned for key messaging points when making your public comment to the Council, as well as a sign on form to add your name alongside thousands of salmon advocates.
Key Information:
Learn more at Save Our Wild Salmon’s Action Hour on January 27th, 6:30-7:30 MT
Deadline for public comments on March 2nd
Boise public hearing on February 12th