News
Keeping you informed of what IRU is doing is vital to our success. Below is a collection of successes and struggles. Sign up for The Currently and stay up to date with our latest news dropping into your email every month!
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Lewiston Tribune editorial: Will Idaho's lame duck governor extend his reach?
In an editorial published this morning, the Lewiston Tribune urged Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter not to tie the hands of Idaho's future elected leaders during the waning hours of his administration with regard to management to endangered salmon.
Idaho shouldn't give up its independent voice for salmon
IRU and allied groups sent a letter earlier this month to Gov. Otter expressing that he should not sign away Idaho’s ability to argue on behalf of wild salmon.
IRU pushes back on 37 South Fork Payette mining claims
New placer mining on the South Fork of the Payette River faced strong opposition from conservation interests during an administrative hearing June 6. “I do not accept that mining is the highest and best use on a Wild and Scenic river, or an eligible Wild and Scenic river,” said IRU Executive Director Kevin Lewis.
Northwest energy picture changing rapidly, report says
There’s trouble ahead for the Bonneville Power Administration, according to a report released this month. The report says the agency is faced with mounting fixed costs and an increasingly competitive free market—a combination that could lead to something sometimes referred to as an economic “death spiral.”
Sacred Salmon Ceremony welcomes salmon back to Idaho
Every year upstream of Riggins a group of Idahoans gather at Spring Bar to welcome Idaho’s amazing wild salmon home. It’s a small gesture for a species on the brink of extinction, but a spiritual tradition that keeps hope alive for Idaho’s imperiled fish.
Streamline episode 3: Economist sees dim future for lower Snake dams
Episode 3 of IRU's podcast, Streamline, digs deeper into the dollars and cents of the lower Snake Rive dams. Economist Tony Jones, featured in the podcast, has been studying the lower Snake dams for decades and has come to the conclusion that they simply aren't needed, and in fact constitute an unnecessary strain on public coffers.
Hundreds of Idahoans say they're concerned about South Salmon mine proposal
Hundreds of Idahoans attended two events in Boise and McCall this month to share why the specter of mining in their beloved South Fork of the Salmon River scares them.
U.S. House passes HR 3144
The U.S. House of Representatives voted against Idaho’s endangered wild salmon and the families who depend on them today when it voted 225 - 189 to approve a bill overturning a federal judge’s order.
Act now to stop the 'Salmon Extinction Act'
Act now. Ask your representatives to stop HR 3144 and protect wild salmon and steelhead from extinction. This ill-advised legislation was passed out of committee last week, and the House of Representatives is expected to vote on it next week.
IRU joins 50th anniversary Wild and Scenic panel in Moscow
IRU joined a panel discussion at the University of Idaho School of Law focusing on the fiftieth anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
South Fork of the Salmon River among America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2018
The South Fork of the Salmon River in Central Idaho was named today as one of America's Most Endangered Rivers.
People of the South Fork Salmon
Sense of place is about finding connection in the world. The people pictured and quoted here have nurtured an intimate connection with the South Fork of the Salmon River, a place threatened by new mining activity at its headwaters.

