 Fin the Giant Wild Salmon in front of the US Capitol.
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With new leadership in the White House and Congress, we have an opportunity to create a legislative plan that safeguards wild salmon and creates jobs, saves taxpayer dollars, and promotes clean energy development. A comprehensive solution that includes river restoration through dam removal will benefit fishermen, farmers, consumers, and American taxpayers — and protect and restore an irreplaceable national treasure.
Send a Message to President-Elect Barack Obama
Send a Message to Your Members of Congress
A comprehensive legislative solution
for Snake River salmon and communities will:
• Create sustainable family-wage jobs.
Removing the four lower Snake River dams will create thousands of family-wage jobs and help to restore the commercial and sport fisheries of the Pacific salmon states.
• Enhance the recreation economy based on a free-flowing river.
A restored Snake River will provide year-round recreation including hiking, hunting, bird watching, salmon and steelhead fishing, rafting, kayaking and canoeing — pumping tens of millions of dollars into the region’s communities.
• Restore 140 miles of river and 30,000 acres of parklands and wildlife habitat.
A restored Snake River will return rapids, recreation, wildlife habitat and plentiful salmon — uncovering thousands of acres of riverfront to help wildlife, farms and towns thrive again, and reconnecting the Snake River to its spectacular canyons and magnificent salmon runs.
• Replace hydroelectricity with clean, affordable, salmon-friendly energy.
Smart investments in efficiency and renewable sources like wind and conservation can more than replace these dams’ limited energy production.
• Keep farmers farming with secure water supplies
Today, irrigation water for several farms is drawn from the reservoir behind Ice Harbor dam. With upgraded equipment, this water can instead be drawn from a free-flowing Snake River, or replaced by local groundwater supplies.
• Address safety concerns associated with aging dams.
Removing these dams will reduce flood risk and save money. All four dams are facing expensive repairs and maintenance. Lower Granite dam, for example, is creating a serious flood risk for the people of Lewiston, Idaho. As a result of sediment piling up in the dam’s reservoir, the river level is now higher than the city’s adjacent business district.
• Eliminate subsidized barge transportation and invest in an efficient transportation network.
Removing the lower Snake River dams will create an opportunity to bring a more efficient, modernized transportation system that includes rail and highway improvements to farming communities for shipping and exports.
Send a Message to President-Elect Barack Obama
Send a Message to Your Members of Congress
