Earthjustice, representing Idaho Rivers United and several of our partner conservation organizations, filed an injunction today to increase spill over dams in the Lower Snake River and Columbia River, and to lower reservoir levels to aid juvenile migrating salmon.

Drought conditions across much of the West mean it is an extremely low-water year, which spells trouble for salmon migrating back to Idaho.

Idaho Rivers United has teamed up with Inclusive Idaho, LEAP, and Idaho River Sports to create inclusive outdoor activities, helping individuals have opportunity and access to outdoor recreation.

The Columbia Basin Collaborative (CBC) held a second workshop this month to inform stakeholders of the trajectory for the newly formed regional salmon recovery process. The collaborative intends to develop a series of recommendations for lawmakers, meaning a lot of ‘process’ and lack of bold action.

Our first event in partnership with Inclusive Idaho is a youth fishing day on May 28th, 9:30 am-11:30 am for children who are refugees. If you love to fish, we need your help!

It is our uncompromising mission to ensure that salmon and steelhead do not go extinct. The science, empirically and unequivocally, shows us that the required path to recovery of Idaho’s salmon and steelhead is through restoring the Snake River to a free-flowing, natural river. We will go to court to ensure that our fish are not relegated to a history book, but let me be clear, we would rather be working together with the Tribes, farmers, and regional representatives on the proposal from Congressman Simpson that benefits each stakeholder group. A path forward that benefits every Idahoan has been offered, and it is our hope that we can move forward within this framework to achieve long-term salmon recovery and regional prosperity.

Boise, ID - Echoing their 2019 environmental conference, the Andrus Center for Public Policy hosted the Energy, Salmon, Agriculture, and Communities: Revisited conference on Thursday, May 13, 2021. The conference revolved around Congressman Simpson’s proposed plan for regional infrastructure investment in preparation for breaching the Lower Snake River Dams to recover Idaho’s endangered salmon. Keynote speakers included Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe Executive Committee, Congressman Mike Simpson (ID-R), and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-D).

As we celebrate Earth Day 2021 and turn our focus towards climate change and how to Restore our Earth, we also face some challenging questions. How will we succeed in the transition to green technologies and protect our rivers and public lands?

Earth Day - or Earth Month - is known as a time to celebrate and give back to our amazing planet. Many businesses take this concept to year-round initiatives, working tirelessly to make every day a day that gives back. Our Aveda partners do just that and are among our earth “year” heroes.

Climate change poses a range of threats to river systems across the globe; the Northwest is no exception. However, Idaho’s salmon are uniquely positioned to be quite resilient to living in a warmer world, and may be the key to reestablish salmon throughout the Columbia River Basin.

This summer, Idaho Rivers United and the Sawtooth National Forest are introducing a new program aimed at protecting endangered spawning salmon from human impacts during the summer months.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Stibnite Gold Project has had considerable revisions and modifications, but the changes were never released to the public for comment and review. IRU and partner organizations are asking the U.S. Forest Service to reopen the DEIS for public comment and give the public a voice on this massive, open-pit gold mine in the South Fork Salmon River headwaters.