By Glen Spain

November 8, 2018

Orcas and commercial salmon fishermen share a common crisis — both need more adult Chinook salmon to return to the Columbia River; orcas to avoid starvation, fishermen to sustain their livelihoods and families.

Northwest orcas are starving and their population is declining — only 74 remain, in large part because their primary prey, Chinook salmon, have been pushed by dams, dewatering and habitat destruction to near extinction almost everywhere.

Salmon fishermen know this because for years, they too have seen reduced catches, reduced fishing seasons and spreading closures. Salmon fishermen too are now effectively an endangered species, and for the same reasons as orcas — their Chinook salmon prey are rapidly disappearing.

So, when six of the world’s leading orca scientists banded together recently and wrote to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery Task Force to share their conclusion that restoring Snake River spring Chinook is critical to preventing orca extinction, salmon fishermen from Astoria, Ilwaco and other coastal communities took note. These scientists are talking about their futures as well.

Since the mid-1990s, salmon scientists have said the single biggest step we can take to restore healthy salmon runs in the Snake River is to remove four low-value, high-cost dams on the lower river above its confluence with the Columbia. This step has been vigorously opposed by those who benefit from status quo dam operations.

But just as our understanding of the connection between orcas and Chinook salmon from the Columbia has evolved, so too has our understanding of the role these four dams play in damaging our regional salmon economy. We now know the region could bypass these four obsolete dams and still thrive.

A recent analysis by Energy Strategies, a Utah-based consulting firm that primarily works for utilities, concluded that the power these four dams combined produce could readily be replaced with clean energy and conservation, with little or no increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and at a low cost to consumers — about $1.25 per month on the average bill. The economic costs of these lower Snake River dams, in terms of thousands of lost salmon-based jobs (in Astoria and elsewhere), costs the region staggeringly more.

Once, the hydropower produced by the four lower Snake River dams was useful and valuable. But over the past 17 years, the average annual 943 megawatts these dams produced was actually “surplus power,” amounting to less than 4 percent of the total power generated from the Federal Power System, which today generates a 17 percent energy surplus. The Northwest is so awash with surplus power that it can often be sold only at a net loss. In other words, instead of making money on it, the Bonneville Power Administration often has to pay California and other states to take it! In short, as power producers, the four lower Snake River dams are now economically obsolete.

The dams’ agriculture transportation functions are also replaceable. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data show barge shipping on the lower Snake has been in steady decline since at least 2000, so much so that, under Corps’ criteria, the lower Snake would today be classified as a “low use” waterway.

Today, the only thing shipped by barge on the lower Snake waterway is grain, chiefly wheat. But increasingly, wheat is being transported by rail. In fact, because of increased rail efficiency, more wheat is going to market by train every year. It is only massive subsidies that keep barge shipments economically viable at all.

Removing the lower Snake River dams would require some reinvestment in rail capacity, but doing so would improve efficiency even more. It could even cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the distance grain has to be moved by truck, which is both costly and highly polluting. And grain could still be moved by barge on the Columbia from the Tri-Cities to Portland, an economic opportunity for the Tri-Cities, an area that was a booming grain shipment port before the Snake River dams were built in the 1960s — and could be again.

Those opposing restoring the lower Snake River often cite irrigation and flood control in defending the dams. But irrigation from the lower Snake only serves 13 farms, all around Ice Harbor dam, irrigation that could be easily maintained by modifying the current system to include stronger pumps and longer pipes, a simple plumbing problem. And, because the lower Snake River dams have no water storage capacity, they play no significant role in flood control.

So where does this leave us? As a region, do we continue failed policies that push the orcas, and salmon fishermen and their communities, further toward extinction? Or do we want to do something to save them both?

The message couldn’t be clearer: it is past time for bold action to bring back the Chinook salmon that sustain mother orcas and their pods as well as salmon-dependent human communities. And the biggest champions should be salmon fishermen, sport and commercial alike, who depend on bringing back the same Chinook the orcas so desperately need.

Many fishermen are already at the forefront of salmon restoration efforts, through organizations like Salmon for All and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. But we’re at a tipping point. If we don’t take steps like removing the lower Snake River dams soon, we risk losing our orcas as well as our own salmon heritage and the lives, communities, cultures and jobs salmon support.

It’s time we all raised our voices to insist that we can restore the Snake River, find ways to meet the legitimate needs of those who also depend on it, whether for power or irrigation, and bring back our salmon. Please be part of that effort.

Glen Spain is the northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a trade association for commercial fishing families on the West Coast.

June 4, 2015 9:39AM

Members of the L pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales came back to the mouth of the Columbia River for Memorial Day weekend.

Satellite tag finally detached, bringing this season's NOAA tracking to an end

CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT, Wash. — Orcas made it back to the vicinity of the Long Beach Peninsula in time for the Memorial Day weekend as this year’s satellite-tracking program came to an end.

“As we sat on the beach on Long Beach Peninsula on Memorial weekend, we saw killer whales fishing just on the other side of the surf. It was very cool,” visitor Geneane Bentley Stahl wrote.

Orca L84, an adult male member of the L pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales usually identified with Puget Sound, along with other family members, made a rapid swim from the west coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island to the Columbia River plume between May 11 and May 17, NOAA Fisheries West Coast-Science & Management reported.

The orcas then went a little farther south for a few days, hunting off Tillamook Head and Clatsop Beach, before returning to the Columbia River on the morning of May 21.

Scientists from Olympia-based Cascadia Research Collective intercepted the whales and observed L84 and a few other members of his pod, or extended family group.

The tag that permitted scientists and the public to keep such close watch on orca movements along the outer coast this winter and spring is designed to eventually fall off, and apparently did so late last month, so this will be this year’s last tracking report.

It has been a fascinating set of sightings. This year at least, all or most of L pod — sometimes joined by members of the K and J pods — spent four months ranging up and down the West Coast between Vancouver Island and northern California. Much of that time was centered in the waters of the Columbia River plume, and the ocean off the mouths of Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. This year joins 2013 as a successful deployment of the satellite tags; in 2014, the tag came off soon after it was attached to an orca.

Researchers spotted the killer whale they call J35 alongside her “robust and lively” new calf on Saturday — a ray of hope for the endangered Southern Resident population off the Pacific Northwest.

September 6, 2020
By Mike Baker

An orca that once spent 17 days carrying her dead calf — a dramatic saga of apparent mourning — has become a mother once again.

The orca, identified by researchers as J35 and also known as Tahlequah, became a symbol in 2018 of the plight of the Southern Resident whales, which were 88 in number when they were listed as endangered in 2005 and have dwindled further since then. The birth of the new orca, which was seen for the first time by researchers on Saturday, brings the population to 73.

“It’s a bit of a nail-biter right now,” said Dr. Deborah Giles, a whale researcher at the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology. “I can’t help but be thrilled that she had this baby and this baby didn’t die right away. Everybody is worried and on pins and needles, wondering if this calf is going to make it.”

The Southern Resident population of orcas, which are also known as killer whales, includes three pods that largely stay near Washington State and British Columbia. The whales have been struggling to endure a variety of troubles — a scarcity of high-quality prey to eat, noise pollution from ships and boats in their habitat, and toxic pollutants that make their way up the food chain to them. Many of the population’s pregnancies fail, and about 40 percent of the calves who are born die in their first year.

J35 had a calf in 2018 that died shortly after birth off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia. The mother continued to carry the calf, pushing it through the water and repeatedly diving deep to retrieve it when it fell away. Orcas sometimes do that for a little while, but J35’s journey of apparent grief lasted 17 days and covered about 1,000 miles, attracting wide attention at a moment when government agencies were grappling with how to alter the population’s downward trajectory.

Ken Balcomb, founding director of the Center for Whale Research, documented the newest calf, listed now as J57, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates the Olympic Peninsula of Washington from Vancouver Island.

“The baby looked very robust and lively, so I have good expectations for this one surviving,” Mr. Balcomb said.

He added that he was hopeful that recent efforts could bring back more robust runs of chinook salmon, the primary food source for the Southern Resident orcas. He pointed to the removal of a dam on the Elwha River, which empties into the strait, as a possible turning point.

Two other whales in the pods also are pregnant, Mr. Balcomb said. Researchers watch each of them closely, he said, because the pods now have only a half-dozen families that have been really successful at producing calves. J35 had a calf in 2010 that is still alive.

Photos taken by researchers on Saturday show the new calf, J57, poking its head out of the water and swimming alongside its sibling and its mother.

Mr. Balcomb said the three pods that make up the Southern Resident population had all gathered in the same spot, in an area where salmon were running. He said it looked like a party, with a lot of breaching and communication among the whales.

“It was like a big picnic,” Mr. Balcomb said.

By News Tribune Staff
March 27, 2022

Activists rallied Saturday in Tacoma on behalf of Northwest salmon runs, calling for removal of four dams on the lower Snake River, and seeking attention from state and federal elected officials.

The “Stop Salmon Extinction — Free the Snake River” event started at the University of Washington Tacoma. Activists then marched to the local federal offices of U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer and U.S. Sens Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. Featured speakers included Puyallup Tribal Council member Annette Bryan and Port of Tacoma Commissioner Kristin Ang.

Following the downtown procession, rally participants shifted to Swan Creek Park on the city’s east side for a celebration and park cleanup effort, sponsored by the Puyallup Tribe and Tacoma Ocean Fest.

Activists plan to follow Saturday’s event with an April 2 rally and “human orca mural” in Olympia. Activities start at 9 a.m. at the Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way SE, Olympia.

By Lynda V. Mapes
March 2, 2022

A new calf was born to J pod of the southern resident orcas, Center for Whale Research director Ken Balcomb confirmed Tuesday morning.

But the birth to orca mother J37 is tempered with news of the loss of two other pregnancies in southern resident families. The endangered whales’ population is now 74.

Scientists John Durban and Holly Fearnbach, of the marine mammal research and rescue nonprofit SR3, reported that routine, noninvasive monitoring of the orcas by drone photography determined two of the three expecting orcas had lost their calves.

J19 and J36 appearing to have decreased significantly in body width, and neither had calves with them, the scientists reported.

“A calving rate of 1/3 of the documented pregnancies will, unfortunately, be consistent with the high rate of reproductive loss that has been documented in recent years by our drone studies and by hormone research conducted by the University of Washington,” the scientists stated.

“Unfortunately, reproductive loss has become normal for this population.”

The southern residents face at least three main threats to their survival: Underwater noise, pollutants, and lack of adequate Chinook salmon, their primary food source.

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2515 or lmapes@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @LyndaVMapes. Lynda specializes in coverage of the environment, natural history, and Native American tribes.

The southern resident killer whales have struggled to reproduce over the past several years, and lost three members just this year.

By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times environment reporter

Another orca is ailing in the critically endangered family of southern resident killer whales.

K25, a 27-year-old male, documented in aerial photographs since 2008, is thinner right now than in previous years, scientists who regularly track the whales with drone photography have reported.

The trouble for K25 likely started with the loss of his mother, K13, in 2017, said John Durban, biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in a news release.

K25’s mother, like all matriarchs in the southern resident pods, helped K25 in capturing and sharing prey. Males rely on help from their mothers, and other family members, to meet their larger energy demands, Durban said. Long-term demographic monitoring has shown that adult males have an increased mortality risk following their mother’s death, highlighting K25’s vulnerability.

Durban said in an interview he had noticed while observing K25 in the field that the orca was lagging behind the rest of his pod. Swimming lethargically, he also was not surfacing with much energy. When he put up the drone, “We got those images and could see immediately that he had lost a lot of body condition compared to the previous year,” Durban said. “I see it as cause for concern. There has been a significant amount of decline, it is worth considering what actions can be taken.”

K25 is eating, Durban said. “He is certainly able to chase fish and forage, I think there is some hope,” Durban said. “I just hope he is able to find enough.”

The southern resident pod of killer whales has already suffered three losses this year, and is down to only 74 animals.

On a more hopeful note for the southern residents, aerial images collected this week also show K27, K25’s sister, to be heavily pregnant, along with a number of other females in J, K and L pods, which make up the southern residents. Whales carry their baby weight below the rib cage, just like humans, Durban said, enabling later-term pregnancies to be reliably documented from aerial images of body shape.

But no one should get their hopes up just yet. The southern residents are enduring a high rate of reproductive failure, and K27 has been documented to have aborted a fetus in recent years. Unsuccessful orca pregnancies and dead infant orcas are sadnesses all too familiar to people who watched Tahlequah, or J35, carry her dead calf for more than 1,000 miles and 17 days last July.

NOAA is asking whale watchers to keep an extra distance from the southern residents now with so many vulnerable whales. Orcas find their food by echolocation, and vessel disturbance hurts their ability to find food. The Pacific Whale Watch Association, the trade association of whale watch companies, as well as Soundwatch, a boater education nonprofit, have joined the call for boaters to keep further back.

Orca whales need about 385 pounds of fish — preferably chinook — every single day to thrive, and pregnant mothers need even more. Of the multiple problems driving the southern residents to extinction, lack of food is the biggest threat to their survival. They need all the help they can get right now to get enough food. Normal distance required by law is at least 200 yards, and 400 yards if your boat is in the path of traveling whales. Boaters are requested stay back further now, and to go slower to reduce underwater engine noise. If other vessels are already in the presence of the southern residents, wait your turn and stay away, to limit the number of vessels already around the whales.

“This is one action we all can take to be sure that these whales can forage peacefully at a critical time for them,” said Jeff Friedman, president of Pacific Whale Watch Association.

Lynne Barre, head of killer whale recovery for NOAA, said in a press release the photos of K25 are an early warning of the whale’s distress. No intervention is contemplated for the whale at this time, but the agency has a watch on his condition. K25 is not as bad off as J50, the severely malnourished 3-year-old orca that just died. Veterinarians never were able to determine exactly what was ailing her.

K25’s thinner body condition “is a warning signal,” she said.

Meanwhile, fish remained scarce for people, too.

Federal officials determined that commercial fisheries for salmon failed this year in Washington, Oregon and California, making those fisheries eligible for federal disaster assistance.

The governors from those three states and multiple Native American tribes had requested the determinations between July 2016 and March 2018. Their requests noted unusually warm and poor ocean conditions that affected fish.

The disaster determinations make salmon and sardine fisheries eligible for some portion of $20 million in NOAA Fisheries fishery disaster assistance. The Commerce Department is figuring out how to allocate that money to eligible fisheries.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2515 or lmapes@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @LyndaVMapes. Lynda specializes in coverage of the environment, natural history, and Native American tribes.

By Lynda V. Mapes
August 18, 2021

Skinny southern resident killer whales are two to three times more likely to die in the next year than whales in a healthy condition, new research shows.

In a paper titled, “Survival of the Fattest,” scientists used drone images taken between 2008 and 2019 of the J, K and L pods of endangered southern resident killer whales to explore the link between food and survival.

They found a clear connection: poor body condition in living whales is a good predictor of dead ones.

Published Wednesday in the scientific journal Ecosphere, the paper also documented that the Fraser River in B.C. and Puget Sound salmon runs are very important to J pod. In years when those river systems were producing Chinook — the orcas’ preferred food, especially in summer — J pod whales looked better. Surprisingly, L pod whales also had better body condition when Puget Sound rivers were pumping out fish.

That was not expected because L pod is rarely seen in Puget Sound. But L pod orcas clearly have learned to target fish homing to Puget Sound rivers while those adult Chinook are shimmering out at sea.

The paper vindicated the work of scientists who have been pioneering drone imagery as a noninvasive method to gather body-condition data, said John Durban, senior scientist with Southhall Environmental Associates.

He and Holly Fearnbach, of the nonprofit SR3, who led the image analysis for the paper, want to grow the data by imaging the whales during the rest of the year, to learn which rivers are sustaining them during the rest of their seasonal round.

The research definitively shows that imaging can detect relatively subtle conditions in body condition and link that directly to increased chance of mortality. “It’s an early warning system,” Durban said. “If we see early on we have large numbers of animals in poor condition, hopefully that could trigger a management response.

“Body condition relates to mortality and condition relates to Chinook salmon. We needed to establish that link in order to support a management response.”

The team did not draw any conclusions about K pod and river systems from this round of data.

The data also shows the orcas can’t be considered as one entity, Durban said; the J, K and L pods have their particular foraging patterns, and they change. Like any skilled fisherman, the southern residents know where, and when, the fishing is good — cultural knowledge passed on generation to generation and season to season.

The southern residents have long used the San Juan Islands as a primary summer foraging ground, but in recent years poor Fraser River runs have changed that. The orcas have barely been in the islands this summer.

For the southern residents, both salmon abundance and access to hunt them matter.

Orcas use sound to hunt and especially when fish are scarce, providing quieter water could be a near-term quick assist. Area closures to fishing and other uses could help the whales forage without disturbance by vessels and boats.

The data also could help managers change fishing regulations to respond if the orcas are in urgent need.

“The new research findings may also help fisheries managers find ways to increase the availability and accessibility of Chinook salmon,” said Lynne Barre, director of killer whale recovery for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. “The goal is to increase availability in places and at times of the year when the whales most need them, while still providing fishing opportunity.” She said the research provides “a level of detail we did not have before.”

Abundance is also pivotal for orca survival.

That takes improvement in salmon habitat, from the rivers where salmon spawn and rear to the estuaries and the ocean where they put on nearly all of their body size and weight. Water temperature increases in the sea surface and in the rivers to which salmon return are threatening their survival. For some highly imperiled salmon, such as spring summer Chinook in the Snake River, scientists say urgent action is needed across all life stages to prevent extinction.

NOAA, in cooperation with states and tribes, also is increasing hatchery production by tens of millions of fish in what may be the world’s largest-ever attempted wildlife feeding effort. How many of those young fish ever return as adults and wind up as live orca chow is yet to be seen.

But with only 74 southern resident orcas left, knowledge is power to make a difference, said Joshua Stewart, lead author on the paper and a postdoctoral researcher at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

“The thing we didn’t know was just how big of a deal it was if a whale was skinny,” Stewart said. “The thing we now know is just how big a deal it is, understanding that when you pass that critical risk tolerance threshold that something has to be done.”

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2515 or lmapes@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @LyndaVMapes. Lynda specializes in coverage of the environment, natural history, and Native American tribes.

January 29, 2019 By Jim Camden OLYMPIA – Just as salmon and orcas are tied together in the Northwest ecosystem, they are being constantly linked in legislative discussions this year. Proposals for new water projects, to fight climate change and possibly even test a new system to shoot fish over river-blocking dams in plastic tubes, emphasize the positive effects on salmon, which in turn could help keep the southern resident orca pod from going extinct. “The orcas are going to need us to do a lot of big things and a lot of little things,” Leonard Forsman, of the Suquamish Tribe, told the House Rural Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee The link is obvious: Salmon, particularly the chinook variety, are the orcas’ favorite meal; low numbers of the former generally coincide with declining numbers of the latter. On Tuesday, Forsman and other members of the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force urged the committee to approve a long list of changes to state law aimed at helping salmon. Among the recommendations are giving the Department of Fish and Wildlife more enforcement authority over certain water projects, which would require plans “for the proper protection of fish life.” The department would offer technical assistance to correct violations and to issue stop-work orders, and civil penalties for those who don’t comply. It would also remove bass, channel catfish and walleye – which can prey on young migrating salmon – from the list of game fish that require a fishing license. “This is not trumped up,” said Jay Manning of the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council. “Without salmon recovery, orca recovery is unlikely.” Also on Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state Department of Ecology is proposing increases in the amount of water that will be spilled over eight dams – four on the Lower Snake River and four on the Columbia – this spring and the next two as a way of determining whether it will help more young salmon survive the trip to the ocean. The goal is to spill more water without reducing the amount of power generated by the dams. The Bonneville Power Administration, which manages the dams, has negotiated an agreement to allow more spills, and the Ecology Department has authority over the amount of dissolved oxygen and nitrogen that can be in that water. “This is an important short-term action we can take to help inform our decisions about what will work over the long term,” Inslee said in announcing the proposal. Later Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee considered a proposal to sell about $5 billion in bonds, and spend $500 million every two years, to improve systems that store water, reduce flooding and stormwater pollution, and remove barriers that keep salmon and steelhead from getting upstream to spawn or downstream on their journey to the ocean. The state faces a court order to remove inadequate culverts and other infrastructure that blocks streams. The committee also heard a pitch from a company that says it has a better and cheaper way than fish ladders to get adult salmon over the dams and juvenile salmon downstream. Whooshh Innovations displayed a system that sprays salmon with water as it pushes them with air pressure through large plastic tubes. Vince Bryan, chief executive officer of Whooshh, said fish that are transported with that system end up farther upstream than those that climb a fish ladder, and “are not damaged and stressed out.” The system also scans each fish so it can separate and cull out invasive species from the salmon. The company is asking for state support and $2.1 million to test the system this year, with a scanner at Bonneville Dam, the first one on the Columbia-Snake system, to get data on every fish that goes upriver and a transport system at Chief Joseph Dam, the last dam, during the summer chinook season. Sen. Kevin Van de Wege, D-Sequim, said committee members seem interested in the system, and would be willing to send letters of support to Congress and federal agencies, but made no promises about financialsupport. “Hopefully, you’ll show up in our capital budget and operating budget,” Van de Wege said.

February 8, 2019

By Eli Francovich

A diverse group of outdoor enthusiasts, ranging from hunters to environmentalists, sent a message Tuesday to lawmakers in Olympia: fully fund the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“In general, today was an opportunity to make key legislatures, mostly the budget writers and the natural resources chairs, familiar with the commonality of purpose,” said Mitch Friedman, the executive director of Conservation Northwest. “We, the normally fighting cats and dogs of fish and wildlife stakeholders, have left our swords at the door and are making peace to work together on this.”

The issue is urgent, Friedman said. When compared with other western states, Washington is the smallest geographically, with the least public land and the largest population.

Despite Gov. Jay Inslee’s presidential ambitions being largely pegged to environmental issues like climate change, the governor’s proposed 2019-21 budget does not fund the $12.9 million WDFW requested to enhance fish and wildlife conservation and $4.2 million for habitat improvements. At the same time, Inslee has requested $1.1 billion in funding for orca recovery.

“I have no problem supporting the orca plan,” said David Cloe, the former president of the Northwest Wildlife Council and a member of the Budget and Policy Advisory Group. “But that’s a big commitment. A billion dollars for one species. When the whole state suffers.”

Cloe said WDFW’s entire budget request was $60 million, much of which wouldn’t come from the state’s general fund.

“He (Inslee) was so passionate about funding the orcas but didn’t say a dang thing about the rest of the animals in the state,” Cloe said.

Friedman and Mike Petersen from the Spokane-based Lands Council spent Tuesday meeting with legislators, including Spokane’s Rep. Timm Ormsby, who is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which is taking the lead on writing the 2019-21 operating budget.

Friedman hoped more representatives could have been present in Olympia, but a combination of bad weather and illness kept many home. A letter, signed by 13 individuals from groups including the Lands Council and the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, was delivered to lawmakers Tuesday. The BPAG has worked with WDFW since 2017 to address its budget shortfall.

“Well, the goal was to go over there and lobby and help talk to legislators to make the WDFW whole again,” Petersen said. “They’ve had a deficit for a bit, ever since the recession, that keeps getting temporarily filled.”

WDFW is facing a $30 million budget shortfall stemming from three things: Funding via general-fund taxes and recreational license sales has not kept pace with costs; a one-time funding fix approved by the Legislature in 2017 expires in June; and the department is still recovering from budget cuts from the Great Recession.

The department submitted its proposed budget in October. Part of the funding fix would come from a 15-percent increase in hunter and angler fees, which groups like the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council supported.

Inslee released his budget in December.

His budget addresses the $30 million structural deficit and included substantial investments in orca and salmon recovery.

“I was really impressed with the governor’s budget,” said Morgan Stinson, WDFW’s budget director.

That was especially true considering the numerous agencies asking for state money, said Nate Pamplin, WDFW’s policy director.

“The fact that there was good investment in the Department of Fish and Wildlife was a pleasant surprise,” Pamplin said.

The governor’s budget is far from assured to pass unscathed through the Legislature. That was the impetus behind lobbying in Olympia, Friedman said.

“The department has a reputation with the Legislature for being a problem agency,” he said. “Because all they ever hear from stakeholders is griping. There aren’t enough deer. The other guys got the fish. You’re not killing enough wolves. You’re killing too many wolves. … That’s all they hear. And they blame the department naturally.”

Some funding for WDFW’s budget request would have to come from the state’s general fund, which lawmakers told Petersen and Friedman could be a tough sell. One way to avoid that, Petersen said, would be to consider additional user fees outside of hunting and angling.

While the governor’s budget addresses the underlying deficit and benefits of orcas and salmon, Friedman said it neglected key areas of WDFW’s mission: habitat improvements and wildlife conservation for other, less-visible species.

Friedman believes that orcas, the flashy topic of the day, took all the attention of a governor with professed presidential ambitions.

“I think that the governor is like minded,” Friedman said. “I’ve known him for a long time. I think I know his priorities. So when the Fish and Wildlife part of the budget got shafted, I took that a little personally.”

Petersen said the orca money impacts habitat and fisheries, which will benefit the overall ecosystem. Still, he said, “It’s unfortunate that the habitat kind of fell off the plate.”

Cloe said it’s an issue WDFW has battled for years. The agency’s work is not visible and often passed over when tough budget decisions are made.

That, he said, comes at a cost.

“If you continue to allow things to deplete at the department, you’re not going to have the animals to go out and see,’ he said. “We believe that the department needs to be funded better so Washington can be better. Period.”

by Katie Herzog • Aug 22, 2018 at 1:55 pm

The Seattle Times published a heart-warming/heart-breaking story Wednesday about chef Renee Erickson, who recently announced that she will be yanking Chinook salmon from her restaurant menus in response to Tahlequah, aka J35, the Salish Sea orca who became an international cause célèbre after carrying her dead baby for 17 days.

“It’s sad," Erickson told the Times. "I love eating [chinook], and I grew up catching it." But, she added, “The biggest gut wrench is that we have starving orcas. We are eating the salmon they need to eat.”

The Salish Sea's resident orca population has declined from 98 in 1995 to just 76 today members today, in large part because of chinook shortages. Taking chinook off restaurant menus (and your own shopping list) is a commendable action. But, unfortunately, it won't save the whales. It's kind of like every other environmental crisis: You can stop driving your car/running your AC/using straws/etc, but actually solving climate change and cleaning up the oceans will take a hell of a lot more than individual do-gooding.

Instead, we need big changes, and that means repairing and restoring watersheds and rivers like the lower Salmon in the Columbia Basin. "The Columbia Basin is a historic source of big, fatty chinook for orca," says Joseph Bogaard, the executive director of Save Our Salmon, a coalition of conservationists and fishers. "The basin is large, with low population density and with large remaining areas of high quality, protected habitat. In certain key areas, habitat restoration isn’t needed so much as restoring connectivity this habitat."

And the way to restore connectivity to this habitat is to tear down the dams that prevent salmon from reaching the Pacific. There are, however, some powerful entities working against that. Federal agencies like the Bonneville Power Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers—not to mention utilities—have "led the charge to protect status quo dam operations in the Columbia Basin for decades," Bogaard says. "This pattern must change. The steep losses of chinook salmon in the Columbia/Snake Basin primarily caused by the federal dams are a major reason why orcas are teetering on the brink of extinction."

Those in favor of maintaining dams argue that the region's ample hydroelectric resources are a big part of why the Pacific Northwest has some of the best air quality on the continent (current smoke storm notwithstanding). And that is undoubtedly true. So will removing dams on the lower Snake mean dirty air, service interruptions, higher power bills, and greater reliance on fossil fuels, as some conservatives and special interest groups have argued?

Well, no, actually. According to a study conducted by the NW Energy Coalition, increasing efficiency and renewable energy sources like solar and wind will make up for energy lost by tearing down dams on the Lower Snake—and at an estimated cost of just one extra dollar a month for consumers. As NW Energy Coalition's Nancy Hirsh wrote in the Tri-City Herald, "The power replacement study—the most extensive yet undertaken on the subject—shows that power from the four lower Snake River dams can be affordably replaced by a mix of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy resources without any loss of electric-system reliability and with little or no increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, electric system adequacy, reliability and flexibility would actually improve. These findings put to rest the decades-old myth that we have to choose between clean, affordable, and reliable energy on the one hand, and the recovery of salmon populations on the other."

Now, it's possible we'll someday have the political will to remove dams on the lower Snake River—in March, Gov. Inslee convened an orca recovery task force that will supposedly explore all options, including dam removal—but tearing down dams and restoring the ecosystem will take several years to achieve. In the meantime, Bogaard says, "A highly effective near-term measure to rebuild chinook populations in what was once the planet’s most productive salmon landscape is to increase ‘spill’ at the federal dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers. Spill sends water (and out-migrating juvenile salmon) over the tops of dams. They arrive at the Pacific Ocean more quickly and safely and survive at a much higher rate than fish that are barged or go through turbines." The Bonneville Power Administration and utilities, however, don't want to do this, because increasing spill (and tearing down dams) costs them money.

In the meantime, forgoing chinook may be all most of us can do. But if the chinook—and the orcas who depend on them—are ever going to recover, it's going to take a lot more than choosing something else for dinner.

March 22, 2017

Christopher Frizzelle   

In September of 2016, the oldest living orca known to science, J2, was photographed near San Juan Island from a drone. Matriarch of the southern residents, a population of killer whales that lives in Puget Sound and is unique on the planet, J2 got her name because she was the second orca to be positively identified by scientists at the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island during the first census of southern resident killer whales, conducted in 1976. The Center for Whale Research also assigns nicknames, and because J2 was so old when scientists first identified her, the nickname she got was "Granny."
   
"We do not know her precise age because she was born long before our study began," Ken Balcomb, the marine mammal biologist who founded the Center for Whale Research, explained. "In 1987, we estimated that she was at least 45 years old and was more likely to have been 76 years old." By 2016, she was estimated to be somewhere from 74 to 105 years old.

When she was seen near San Juan Island in September, she did not look good. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Vancouver Aquarium noted J2's "thin body shape" and "relatively poor" condition. One thing that distinguishes southern residents from other kinds of killer whales is that southern residents eat only salmon. In fact, 80 percent of the southern resident diet is specifically Chinook salmon—and just like the southern residents themselves, Chinook salmon is on the endangered species list. There used to be plentiful Chinook salmon in local waters, especially where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean and where the Fraser River meets the Salish Sea, but now wild Chinook is scarce. Dr. Deborah Giles, research director for the Center for Whale Research, said Granny was in an "emaciated state" in the photos NOAA's drone took. And yet, even though Granny was herself clearly hungry, the documentation showed her hunting for food for a relative. "She was seen foraging for, pushing, basically corralling a fish toward her family member," said Dr. Giles, whose specialty is behavior. "It's incredible. The females really are the matriarchs of these family groups, and they do whatever they can [for others in their families] to the detriment of themselves. These whales cooperatively hunt. They forage and find fish and share fish with each other. That's just remarkable." The drone photography showed J2 and her relative J45 swimming side by side, a salmon swimming between them. "Ultimately, J2 captured the salmon and presented it to J45," according to NOAA.

J45's mother had just died, which explains why J2 was helping her find food. Southern resident offspring stay with their mothers their entire lives—another characteristic that sets them apart from other killer whales—so an orphan like J45 would be adrift without mom around. "They are incredibly bonded animals. They don't disperse," Dr. Giles said. "It's not like elephants, for example, where the males disperse from mom, and even females sometimes disperse from mom. With the southern resident clan, it's not that way. They all stay with their families their entire life." J45's mom was among the seven southern resident deaths recorded in 2016, a disturbing setback after the minor baby boom of 2015. According to Howard Garrett, director of the advocacy group Orca Network, those births in 2015 were "all very encouraging, but then these mortalities have more than erased that gain." There are now 78 southern resident orcas left on the planet.

Granny was seen again in mid-October. Then in late October, scientists saw something they weren't used to seeing: Granny's relatives swimming around without her. This was highly unusual. "J2 was often the animal that was in the lead," said Dr. Giles, who has seen her in the wild "hundreds" of times. "And there were multiple, multiple times—it's been documented—where J2 would decide to go up a particular passage, and maybe some of the other whales were meandering a different way, and she would just stop in the water and start slamming her tail on the water. It's called tail slapping... When she was around, if she wanted something to happen, she would make it happen."
 
Because Granny had an easily identifiable crescent-moon-shaped scar on the trailing edge of her dorsal fin, her presence was easy for scientists to track. So it was disconcerting for researchers who've been seeing her since 1976 not to see her with her pod.
    
The Center for Whale Research marked J2 down as missing. "The general rule is, there are three encounters where they should be there and they're not," said Garrett. "The center tries to be very conservative about it and not set off any alarms until they're absolutely sure." In November, there was another encounter with J2's family, and J2 was still missing. In December, there was another encounter—and again, no J2.
    
"That was enough," Garrett said. "We knew she was gone.

The oldest living orca on record, an icon of her species, was dead. The news devastated activists and animal lovers, and it underscored a bigger environmental problem that political leaders don't seem eager to address—a problem affecting all southern residents and their prospects for future survival.

"When you think back eighty to a hundred years and everything she would have seen in her lifetime, everything from massive shipping in the area to the damming of the Elwha River, she was there when that was happening," Dr. Giles reflected.

She also would have witnessed the traumatic orca captures in the 1960s and '70s in Puget Sound, when fishermen hunted southern residents with explosives to sell to companies like SeaWorld. The original Shamu was an orphaned southern resident who watched her mother die after being harpooned from a helicopter near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In response to public outcry, orca captures were outlawed in Washington State in 1976.

Another change Granny would have witnessed over time was "the decimation of fish in the region," said Dr. Giles. "When she was young, there would have been fish that were 120-plus pounds—fish that were massive. That's what these whales evolved to eat. You think of a massive carnivore like a killer whale, and you think: Gosh, how can it be that they eat just fish? When we think of fish these days, we think of a 30-pound Chinook salmon as massive, and those are teeny, those are itty-bitty compared to what these whales evolved to eat. But that's still what they're looking for." Chinook is the biggest of the salmon species and the richest in fat content.

When southern residents were officially added to the endangered species list in 2005, federal dollars were allocated to studying them and planning a survival strategy. They are the only endangered orcas in US waters, and NOAA has been analyzing several factors that may be contributing to their demise, including pollution, vessel noise, and salmon scarcity.

But for Dr. Giles, it's a no-brainer. She points out that there are other populations of orcas seen in Puget Sound—for instance the mammal-eating transient orcas that like to eat seals (by skinning them alive)—and those orcas are thriving, in spite of pollution and vessel noise, unlike the southern residents, whose population is "not increasing." Southern residents "are losing a tremendous number of their young, before they're even born." The difference? "The southern residents don't have food."

More Salmon Needed
In a recovery plan for southern residents that NOAA completed in 2008, the federal agency acknowledged "the single greatest change in food availability for resident killer whales since the late 1800s has been the decline of salmon from the Columbia River basin." One of the rivers that feeds into the Columbia River is the Snake River, which is dammed in four places as it travels through the southeast corner of Washington State.

"The Columbia River basin—and the Snake River watershed in particular—holds the greatest promise for restoring significant numbers of Chinook in the near term," according to Save Our Wild Salmon, a coalition of advocacy groups. "For this reason, orca scientists and advocates increasingly support calls to remove the four costly lower Snake River dams."

For decades, those four dams—Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite—have generated cheap hydroelectric energy for the Bonneville Power Administration. The power created by Bonneville's dams was credited by President Harry Truman as being essential in the allied victory in World War II. Back then, cheap power "was instrumental in the ramp up of the Northwest aluminum industry," Bonneville's website states, which in turn allowed Boeing to manufacture "over 10,000 combat airplanes."

But some activists say those dams are no longer essential and cause more environmental problems than they solve. The dams are operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and James M. Waddell, who worked for the corps for 35 years, told me, "Historically, in the Columbia–Snake River system, there were somewhere between  15 million and 30 million fish a year... Today, we get less than 3 percent of those runs, and a lot of those are hatchery fish. The original wild fish that were in that river have been almost completely decimated." He believes that if the dams aren't breached soon, "it will be nearly impossible to recover" wild salmon runs, "and they might likely go extinct. And by extension, the southern resident killer whales will also likely go extinct."

Twenty years ago, a coalition of parties including environmental groups, fishing businesses, and indigenous tribes sued the federal agencies that operate and market the energy produced by the Columbia River hydropower system. Last May, US District Court judge Michael Simon in Oregon "invalidated" the US government's most recent biological opinion for restoring the salmon runs in the Columbia basin, the Seattle Times reported. In other words, the judge sided with the environmental groups, writing that the dam system "cries out for a major overhaul" and that "for more than 20 years... federal agencies ignored the admonishments and continued to focus essentially on the same approach" and the agencies' efforts "have already cost billions of dollars, yet they are failing. Many populations of the listed species continue to be in a perilous state."

It wasn't the first time the courts came down hard on the federal agencies. "It's the fifth time a biological opinion written by the agencies permitting operation of the dams has been struck down by the courts," the Times explained.

Joseph Bogaard, the executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon, told me, "The politics on this issue is truly shifting." As he put it, federal agencies have "run up a huge bill, they haven't restored our fish, and they've had five consecutive illegal plans" tossed out by the courts. "The political leadership is starting to scratch their heads and say: Okay, we get it, we're going to have to fix this."

Waddell, who now runs an organization called Dam Sense, says that if you breached the four Snake River dams, "right off the bat, you would eliminate half the mortality" of migrating salmon. But, he said, political leaders are "so afraid to touch this issue."

He said that Dam Sense has been "trying for well over two years to set up a meeting with Governor Jay Inslee to brief him on this, but they keep turning us down."

Tara Lee, a spokesperson for Governor Inslee, told The Stranger that "the governor's staff has been working closely with respected stakeholders on this issue for some time." She indicated that Governor Inslee believes more studies need to be done, weighing the "biological and socioeconomic costs and benefits" of four approaches: (1) "status quo," (2) "aggressive non-dam-removal restoration strategy including additional spill over the dams to improve the survival of out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead," (3) "lower Snake River dam removal," and (4) "lower Snake River dam removal plus elements of the aggressive non-dam-removal strategy."

In other words, the governor is keeping all options open. "We will push the federal agencies to consider the impacts of all of these alternatives on southern resident orcas," the spokesperson said.

Lee added that the state "is supporting the near-term development of a carefully designed experiment to test the benefits of additional spill at both the Snake and Columbia River dams for out-migrating salmon and steelhead."

Though Bogaard, of Save Our Wild Salmon, believes the politics of this issue are starting to shift, he acknowledged: "There remains a decided lack of urgency on the part of many political leaders." That is, he said, "disappointing and worrisome," and added that Inslee's explanation of his position to The Stranger is in keeping with that lack of urgency.

As for the question of what the Pacific Northwest would do without the hydroelectric power the dams produce, Bogaard said, "There's a growing recognition of opportunities and flexibilities within the region today with regards to taking the energy from those four dams offline. Seattle City Light and other energy experts in the region have indicated if the dams were to be removed, it's possible we don't need to immediately replace that energy." He mentioned plummeting costs of alternative technologies, including wind and solar.

Bogaard added that Columbia basin restoration would not be a panacea for the southern residents, but it would be "an essential component to providing the significant numbers of fish that these southern residents need to survive."

The Stranger reached out to the offices of Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell for comment, but neither of the senators replied.

When asked what people can do to help the southern residents, Howard Garrett, of the Orca Network, said, "Our real push is the Snake River dams. On social media, we're calling on people to call Inslee, Murray, and Cantwell's offices. The word we have is that they are the holdouts." He added, "The state political backwater of resistance—pun intended—just don't want to see those dams come out. They're just married to them as monuments to our greatness, or whatever it is. The rationales for keeping the dams are riddled with falsehoods."

In a 2015 report to Congress, NOAA listed southern resident orcas as one of eight endangered species that are "most at risk of extinction."

"There's no other population on the planet like southern residents," said Dr. Giles, of the Center for Whale Research. "I understand there's politics involved. But if something massive doesn't happen very, very soon, it's going to be too late."

The conversation turned back to Granny and her clan. Dr. Giles pointed out, "It was through her that we really started to understand the social dynamics and the close bonds that these animals have for one another, by studying her, because she was so recognizable." She added, "We really have lost the wise elder of the southern resident clan."

http://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/03/22/25031016/is-anyone-going-to-save-the-endangered-killer-whales-in-puget-sound-before-its-too-late

By Annette Cary, February 22, 2018

Key federal lawmakers representing the Tri-Cities are on opposite sides of a bill intended to help save the lower Snake River dams.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., is one of the bipartisan Northwest sponsors of a House bill that would keep the status quo — no breaching, no extra spilling of water — at the four lower Snake River Dams at least until 2022.

But Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wants an environmental study to proceed that will look at different alternatives for salmon recovery, including breaching or removing one or more of the four dams.

She sent a letter on Tuesday to Senate and House leadership criticizing Newhouse’s bill.

“The legislation would undermine an important, ongoing process by forcing a one-size-fits-all approach for the many critical uses of the Columbia and Snake rivers, which is deeply concerning,” said Kerry Arndt, Murray’s press secretary.

“What’s more, it circumvents the courts and ignores bedrock environmental laws,” Arndt said.

In May 2016, U.S. Judge Michael Simon ordered the new environmental review and a new Federal Columbia River Biological Opinion, or BiOp.

The current BiOp — a plan created by a collaboration of federal agencies, states and tribes to protect salmon while operating Snake and Columbia river dams — does not do enough to rebuild endangered salmon and steelhead populations, he found.

Newhouse distributed Murray’s letter to news media on Thursday.

“It’s unthinkable that Seattle Democrats are putting politics over science when it comes to improving fish recovery efforts,” said Newhouse in a joint statement with fellow Washington Republican Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Jaime Herrera Beutler.

Murray’s letter — which also was signed by Reps. Adam Smith and Pramila Jayapal, both D-Wash. — said that Newhouse’s legislation would circumvent a process to consider all uses of the Columbia River power system.

Management of the river must consider fish and wildlife manage, salmon recovery, irrigation, navigation, power generation, flood protection and recreation, Murray’s letter said.

The environmental study process already has begun with 18 public meetings through the Pacific Northwest and more than 400,000 public comments made. The study is intended to evaluate the costs and benefits of multiple alternatives and possibly find a way to move listed species out of peril, Murray’s letter pointed out.

Newhouse’s bill would prevent an open and transparent process on its environmental study and new BiOp, according to Murray’s letter.

Murray would make Washington state ratepayers pick up the tab, Newhouse said.

Simon has ordered more water to be spilled over dams starting this spring in the hopes of delivering out-migrating juvenile salmon more quickly and safely to the ocean. Some critics of the decision say the spill would do little to help fish and could create high gas levels in the water that can harm juvenile fish.

The spilled water would otherwise be used for power production, and will cost Washington residents $40 million in higher electric rates this year, Newhouse said.

“They (Murray, Smith and Jayapal) claim to support clean renewable energy, while simultaneously working to destroy hydropower, Washington state’s largest source of carbon-neutral, clean energy,” Newhouse said.

“Breaching the dams, which provide critical benefits for communities in our state, should not even be an option,” he said.

The current BiOp was the result of years of work between the Obama administration, Pacific Northwest states, Northwest tribes and local people with direct knowledge and expertise in salmon recovery, Newhouse said.

“Rejecting the BiOp only hurts the people of Washington state and sets us back decades in our fight to protect fish and support clean energy,” he said.

Murray’s letter was sent to House speaker Paul Ryan, Senate leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Newhouse’s bill was introduced by Newhouse; McMorris Rodgers; Herrera Beutler; Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article201669989.html

December 28, 2016

A guest opinion recently challenged the notion that starving orcas would benefit from dam removal, which scientists say will bolster dwindling salmon populations. Pasco City Planner Dave McDonald writes, “The Columbia/Snake River system is not connected to that habitat favored by the orcas.”

That’s just not true, but then again Mr. McDonald isn’t an expert on orcas. Instead let’s look to Dr. Samuel Wasser, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington, for a fact-based explanation. Dr. Wasser has conducted internationally respected research on orcas for years.

In a recent press statement he said, “Early spring Columbia River Chinook are vital to the reproductive health and population growth of southern resident killer whales. They replenish the whale’s reserves after the harsh winter and sustain them until the Fraser River Chinook run peaks in late summer. Low abundance of the Columbia River run increases rates of spontaneous abortions among pregnant whales of that year.”

Historically, half the Columbia Basin’s spring Chinook were produced in habitat located above the lower Snake River dams. Removing dams would re-open access. That’s why scientists view it as the most promising tool for salmon (and orca) recovery.

Steve Hawley, Hood River, Ore.

December 18, 2018

By Cameron Probert

Kennewick, WA - A new agreement aims to boost salmon populations and preserve inexpensive power in hopes of ending a decades-long legal battle over the future of the four lower Snake River dams.

Three federal agencies, including the Bonneville Power Administration, joined Oregon and Washington officials and the Nez Perce Tribe in signing off on a three-year plan filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The move creates more flexibility for the federal agency running the dams, allowing them to focus on producing power for the eight hours in the day when it’s most needed, and increase the amount of water heading over the dam during the rest of the day.

The changes will only affect the dam’s operations between April and mid-June when spring Chinook are heading to the ocean.

This comes on the heels of a court-ordered spill last spring and while the 2019 spill levels will stay the same, the agreement calls for sending more water over the dam in 2020 and 2021.

The agreement aims to help young salmon heading to the ocean while allowing federal officials the ability to be flexible with power production, the administration said.

Collaboration is the key to the managing the Columbia River system, federal and state officials said in a joint news release.

“Working together, the region’s states, tribes and federal agencies have developed an approach that demonstrates environmental stewardship and affordable sustainable energy are not mutually exclusive,” they said.

Alongside the agreement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife are studying the impact the change will make on the environment.

The federal lawsuit will be paused until those studies are finished.

Environmental groups leading the charge in court, represented by Earthjustice, called the agreement a step forward in the continuing battle over the dams, but not the solution for salmon.

“It is a stop-gap measure to help struggling salmon populations for the next three years,” said Todd True, an Earthjustice attorney. “We should ultimately be working toward restoring a free-flowing lower Snake River by removing the four lower Snake River dams.”

The move is not what Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, were looking for either.

In a joint statement, they called the costly plan “worse than useless.”

They pointed out federal scientists haven’t determined whether increasing the amount spilled would help salmon, and in the meantime, it could cost the administration up to $38 million.

“Increasing spill to this unprecedented new level may actually threaten young fish with ‘the bends’ due to the effect of increasing dissolved gasses,” the representatives said in a joint statement. “The purpose of this agreement was to end litigation, but there is no indication that it will even do that.”

Northwest RiverPartners also questioned whether the agreement would really solve the problems faced by salmon in the area. The alliance of farmers, utilities, ports and businesses issued a statement Tuesday.

“We are encouraged that this agreement intends to put a temporary halt to the the ongoing litigation that for so long has ill-served our region,” the organization said. “At the same time, we are concerned about the unprecedented and scientifically unproven levels of new spill being contemplated by the agreement.”

The organization’s leaders are calling on the state to study what the effect of the spill will be before signing off on any changes to existing water quality standards. The standards were put in place to protect salmon and other species, and this could invite more lawsuits if it hurts fish.

Whether this change will actually make a difference in the amount of salmon heading to the ocean depends on which scientific study is used. The competing models show drastically different results from sending more water over the dams.

Without more information about whether this will actually benefit the salmon, increasing the amount of water and dissolved gas in the river is a problem, Northwest RiverPartners said.

December 14, 2018

By The Tri City Herald Editorial Board

An endangered female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound. 

The efforts by anti-dam activists who want to remove the four lower Snake River Dams are heating up, and Eastern Washington stakeholders should not underestimate the renewed momentum now pushing the issue.

How our community responds is critical.

The state’s resident orcas have been in decline for some time, but the heartbreaking image this past August of a mother orca carrying her dead calf on her head through the waters of Puget Sound created a sense of urgency about the whales’ plight.

So, last spring the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force began its critical task of creating a plan to help save the endangered animals.

The group recently provided Gov. Jay Inslee with 36 recommendations, but wisely stopped short of suggesting the hydroelectric dams along the Snake and Columbia rivers be dismantled. Considering how crucial they are to the economy of Eastern Washington, this made sense.

But that omission caused an emotional outcry on the west side by those who want the dams gone and believe removing them will boost the number of salmon the orcas rely on for food. Perhaps they made an impression.

On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee released his 2019-21 state budget proposal, and it included $1.1 billion to help save the beloved animals. Tucked in the plan is $750,000 so a task force can study the effects to Eastern Washington if the lower Snake River dams came down, and provide a path forward if they did.

The language is slippery, and our community should consider carefully how to proceed. We shouldn’t ignore a chance to provide input.

Having voices from the Mid-Columbia on that task force could be critical. In fact, we’d say that since Eastern Washington residents would be the most affected if the dams were removed, their opinions should matter the most.

But then again, there are organizations convinced our region can find a new way to live without the dams, and they want Mid-Columbians to buy in to their plans. What happens if Eastern Washington resists?

Will they listen to the people who have spent millions improving salmon runs, and who actually work at the dams?

The federal government already is conducting an environmental impact study that will address many of the same issues — why duplicate that piece of it?

Reps. Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers already are rejecting Inslee’s proposal.

They said that the governor does not have the authority to breach federal dams, and allocating state taxpayers’ funds to consider such a drastic move is “wasteful.”

We will have to see what happens with Inslee’s budget, but community leaders should be prepared in case this new task force is launched.

In September, a coalition of agencies who support the dams organized RiverFest in Kennewick’s Columbia Park as a way to show the importance of the Snake River dams to our community.

It was a big day that gathered many people together from different arenas. Representatives for hydropower, navigation, tourism, irrigation and recreation all rely on the dams, and together link Eastern Washington’s economy together.

We suggest the same organizers of Riverfest also work together to help decide how the region should respond to Inslee’s task force proposal.

Our voice needs to be heard.

November 16, 2018

By Annette Cary

A state task force stopped short of calling for tearing down the four Lower Snake River dams in its final report on how to help critically endangered Northwest orcas.

The Southern Resident Orca Task Force, created by Gov. Jay Inslee in March, made three dozen recommendations on Friday to save the dwindling species off the coast of Washington.

The recommendations include increasing the amount of water spilled over Snake and Columbia river dams, rather than using the water for hydropower, in hopes of increasing salmon survival.

It also calls for hiring a neutral third party to establish a collaborative process — working with tribal, federal, state and local leadership — to address issues tied to possible removal of the Snake River dams.

The killer whales depend on chinook salmon for food, and the report included recommendations to increase chinook numbers that have been declining because of dams, habitat loss and overfishing.

But it also addressed other factors harming Pacific Northwest orcas, including pollution and boat noise.

It called for suspending three to five years of whale-watching boat tours focused on orcas in the Puget Sound. Boat trips for viewing other types of whales would be allowed to continue.

Reducing stormwater runoff and cleaning up PCBs also would benefit the killer whale population, it said. PCBs are a toxic compound once widely used in manufacturing.

This year the population of southern resident orcas dropped to just 74, with the deaths of three of the killer whales.

The world watched this summer as one whale, Tahlequah swam for 17 days with her dead calf.

The task force received so many comments on hydropower and the killer whales after releasing its draft recommendations that it reviewed only 800 randomly selected comments of the 8,687 submitted.

More than 99 percent were one of two comments that were repeated verbatim.

Both of the two boiler plate messages said, “The lower Snake River Dams must go to restore chinook salmon” and also called for changing state standards to allow more water spilling over the dams.

The final report recommended that the state’s standard for dissolved gases be increased to allow more spilling over the dams, but to maintain rigorous monitoring of the impacts to fish.

More water spilling can help juvenile salmon safely move past dams on their way to the ocean, but too much can saturate water with oxygen and nitrogen that can build up in fish and kill them.

The report’s proposed discussion of breaching or removing the lower Snake River dams would include a look at the economic impacts, impacts to communities and costs to mitigate negative affects. The dams play a role in barging, irrigation and recreation.

The discussion also would consider whether removing dams would help the killer whales.

“Clearly task force members were not persuaded by the faulty arguments and emotional appeals made by anti-dam activists,” Northwest RiverPartners — an alliance of farmers, utilities, ports and businesses — said in a statement.

Other proposals in the report to make more chinook available for killer whales include restoring salmon habitat, in and around Puget Sound and elsewhere; increasing hatchery salmon production; allowing anglers to catch more predatory fish, such as walleye and bass; and supporting actions to manage sea lions that feast on salmon.

Inslee said he will review the report’s proposals before finalizing his state budget and police priorities next month. The state Legislature convenes in January.

Call Governor Inslee today. Ask him to move forward quickly to increase spill, to convene a lower Snake River dam removal planning forum, and fund and implement the Task Force recommendations. Click hereto find out how.

By Dahr Jamail

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

No one is certain of the total number of orcas (otherwise known as "killer whales") that exist in the wild. However, estimates are now around 100,000, and populations are dwindling. In Washington State's Puget Sound and San Juan Islands, the once-large population of orcas has declined to around 80 whales, and the Puget Sound orcas are on the US government's endangered species list.

Why are the orcas disappearing? A variety of factors are in play: Loss of food supply (such as salmon), warming waters, habitat loss, pollution, Naval sonar and war gaming, and ocean acidification are some of the many factors now constellating to make life much more challenging for these iconic whales.

Some reports warn that it could already be too late to save wild orcas.

Experts Truthout spoke with on the matter warned that, without significant intervention to address these and other issues, the orcas' days may well be numbered.

A Dwindling Food Supply

Dr. Paul Spong, a scientist who has been interested in orcas for more than four decades, founded OrcaLab, a land-based whale research station on Hanson Island off the northern coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

OrcaLab operates on the philosophy that it is possible to study the wild without interfering with the lives or habitat of the wildlife being studied. The scientists work via a network of hydrophones they position around the orcas' "core habitat," a method that allows them to monitor the whales' movements year round, 24 hours a day, over an area of 50 square kilometers.

OrcaLab, in its own words, aims to work towards the "preservation of orca habitat; release and rehabilitation of captive cetaceans … and bringing to an end the dismal era of commercial whaling."

Truthout asked Spong about some of the primary changes in recent years.

"One major change is, their numbers are reducing," he said. "They arrive later, leave earlier, and fewer groups [are] coming."

In the area where OrcaLab functions, the numbers of whales are particularly low. According to Spong, the small population is due to ship and boat noise, seismic exploration, military sonar (which Spong describes as "very disruptive"), and a dramatic increase in large vessel traffic in the area.

But the biggest issue is food.

"They are very specific in the kinds of food they eat," Spong explained. "Orca prefer Chinook salmon and chum, and these are declining in recent decades, and this is directly impacting the whales."

Howard Garrett is the board president of Orca Network, a nonprofit organization that is, according to its website, "dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats."

Along with the factors Spong mentioned that are negatively impacting the local orca population in the Pacific Northwest, Garrett cited the US Navy.

"Naval training exercises likely negatively impact orcas, and ship noises may mask their echolocation and communication, impairing their ability to find and catch salmon, and possibly reducing their ability to maintain acoustic social relationships," Garrett told Truthout.

He estimates there to be 82 orcas in the local population, with "little or no increase" since the end of the "capture era" in 1976.

"Given the prey base 100 to 150 years ago, and the size of most other orca communities worldwide, it's likely there were about 200 [local] orcas before the losses from random attacks from fishermen and military, prey depletion due to habitat destruction, capture for the display industry, dams, and overfishing," Garrett added.

Climate Disruption and the Whales

Of course, another giant factor threatens whale populations: anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD). The impact of ACD on the Puget Sound region of Washington is well known, as studies have shown.

Like Spong, Garrett sees one of the primary issues facing orcas in the Pacific Northwest as that of food distribution and abundance, or lack thereof, and sees that as being directly related to ACD.

"Warmer water reduces salmon survival, as demonstrated during the extreme El Niño of 1995-96 that correlated with a 20 percent drop in the Southern Resident [orcas that live in the Pacific Northwest] population between 1996 and 2001," Garrett explained.

Spong emphasizes the issue of food access, and ties it directly to ACD.

"The principle problem for orcas is climate change," Spong said. "Ocean temperature changes impact food supply."

Salmon, the orcas' primary food source, live and thrive in a relatively small temperature range in both the oceans and rivers, so when water temperatures are increased, orcas' food supplies diminish rapidly.

"If you look ahead to a century from now, I'm quite fearful that there may not be a food supply for the orcas because of this," Spong said.

Can the Orcas Survive?

Given that there is no immediate solution to ACD, there is obviously no simple fix for the endangerment of orcas. However, there are some things that can be done to mitigate the problems the whales now face.

Garrett said it is important for people to become informed about orcas' struggles, particularly around finding food. He also sees addressing the dams that thwart salmon spawning as a viable action goal.

"Contact President Obama to issue an executive order to remove the four lower Snake River dams to open up 5,500 miles of spawning habitat, historically the greatest source of food for the orcas," Garrett suggested. "A simple memo from Obama to the Army Corps to remove the dams would get the job done, but still needed are approvals from Washington Gov. Inslee and Senators Cantwell and Murray, so please call them too."

Spong echoed the sentiment, emphasizing dismantling dams would be a key first step.

"If there is any hope in recovering these orca populations, there must be an effort to boost their food supply by working towards taking down dams in rivers where salmon spawn," he said. "Restricting commercial fisheries from taking so many Chinook and chum salmon, as well as imposing more restrictions on the sport fishers who are doing the same also can be addressed, because these are literally taking the food away from the orcas."

The jury is out as to whether the orca can survive the impacts of ACD. But for now, there are some concrete actions that can be taken to, at the very least, buy them some time.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38543-without-major-interventions-the-orca-s-days-are-numbered

Dahr Jamail, a Truthout staff reporter, is the author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan (Haymarket Books, 2009), and Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from Iraq for more than a year, as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last 10 years, and has won the Martha Gellhorn Award for Investigative Journalism, among other awards.

His third book, The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible, co-written with William Rivers Pitt, is available now on Amazon.

Dahr Jamail is the author of the book, The End of Ice, forthcoming from The New Press. He lives and works in Washington State.

June 11th, 2019

By Amy Grondin

A recent Union-Bulletin editorial opposing a stakeholder forum to assess restoring the lower Snake River and removing four dams to aid in salmon recovery is correct on just two counts.

First, the devastating impact these dams have on the salmon — and by extension the orca that need them to thrive — has been studied extensively. The scientific results are clear: We’ve spent a lot of money to address the collapse of salmon stocks but we still haven’t moved any of them off the endangered list.

On a second count the editorial is also correct: The stakeholder forum is a different approach. The intent is to bring experts together with community members, business owners, tribes, farmers and fishermen to explore smarter solutions for clean energy, strong and dynamic economies and abundant salmon runs, all of which are vital to all Washingtonians. Just as wheat farmers need affordable ways to move their produce to market, families on the coast and communities up and down the river depend on jobs that salmon bring to their towns. It’s not farmers or fisherman but how to meet the needs of both.

On other points the editorial is wrong. Take transportation: How much freight travels through the lower Snake River? Just 5 percent of the total shipped on the Columbia-Snake waterway. Meanwhile, we provide a $20 million annual taxpayer subsidy to ship this small amount of freight. As for the hydropower, the lower Snake River dams produce most of their power during Spring when demand is low and power less valuable. These dams produce only 4 percent of regional power anyway while we have a surplus of 15 percent or more.

Change is inevitable, and we need to do better. Farmers and fishermen would surely agree: Neither wants to see the other fail. Let’s build from there. With or without dams we’re in this one together. Let’s talk.

With the number of endangered Puget Sound orcas at a 30-year low, state lawmakers are proposing a number of measures to save the fish-eating killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of the Salish Sea.

Phuong Le, The Associated Press, Feb. 2, 2018

SEATTLE (AP) — With the number of endangered Puget Sound orcas at a 30-year low, state lawmakers want to protect the fish-eating killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of the Salish Sea.

The measures range from boosting hatchery salmon production to increasing marine patrols so that boats keep their distance from the whales.

Many have been sounding the alarm about the orcas' plight since the September death of a juvenile brought the population to 76. Orcas face threats from lack of food, pollution and noise from vessels.

A baby orca has not been born in the last few years. Half of the calves born during a celebrated baby boom have since died. Female orcas are also having pregnancy problems linked to nutritional stress brought on by a low supply of chinook salmon, the whales' preferred food, a recent study found.

"We haven't seen any viable calves born here in the last few years and that is disconcerting," said Brad Hanson, wildlife biologist with the NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Last year, the orcas spent the fewest number of days in the central Salish Sea in four decades, mostly because there wasn't enough salmon for them to eat, said Ken Balcomb, senior scientist with the Center for Whale Research.

One House bill sets aside $1.5 million to produce 10 million more hatchery chinook salmon — a roughly 20 percent boost — so orcas will have more to eat.

"Using smart hatchery production we can still support rebuilding wild fish runs and have hatchery production," said Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, prime sponsor of House Bill 2417 which unanimously cleared a policy committee and awaits action in a fiscal committee.

Blake and other says there's growing awareness that the fates of two Northwest iconic species — salmon and orcas — are intertwined, and that efforts to save one endangered species could help another.

"The idea is that, overall, you have more fish out there that are available to killer whales," said Penny Becker, wildlife diversity division manager with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

She said the agency is committed to ramping up state hatchery production — which has been declining over the past decade — though it would still need to determine where and how best to do that.

Putting more fish in the waters won't necessarily mean whales will get them all. A recent study found that other marine mammals such as sea lions, seals and other killer whales were also feasting on the salmon that Puget Sound orcas prize.

Recreational and commercial fishermen groups told lawmakers that increasing supply would benefit fishermen and orcas.

But some skeptics think it should only be a short-term strategy and that efforts should focus on restoring salmon habitat or removing fish barriers including dams.

"We can't stop there. We've got to have a more comprehensive approach that restores ecosystem health," said Joseph Bogaard, executive director with Save Our Wild Salmon, a coalition that is pushing to remove four Snake River dams.

Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said officials should be looking to limit salmon harvest so orcas can have their share rather than increasing production that could potentially harm wild salmon.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, has proposed a package of bills aimed at protecting orcas and the waters they swim in.

Senate Bill 6268 would essentially double to 100 the number of days state wildlife officers are on the water to keep boats a safe distance from orcas.

Orcas use clicks, calls and other sounds to navigate, communicate and forage mainly for salmon. Noise from vessels can interfere with that that.

"We need to continue working on toxins and salmon, but there are issues that we can take on right now," Ranker said.

His bill would also convene a meeting between experts in British Columbia and Washington to discuss strategies to help the orcas.

Gov. Jay Inslee's proposed supplemental budget devotes $3 million to helping the whales by increasing enforcement of boat regulations, increasing production of chinook salmon at hatcheries and improving habitat. Inslee is also expected to create a killer whale task force.

By Allyson Chiu

For roughly 17 months, she patiently waited. Like many expectant mothers, she looked forward to the day she would get to welcome her baby into the world.

On Tuesday morning, it finally happened. J35, a member of an endangered population of southern resident killer whales, gave birth near Victoria, B.C.

It was a baby girl. She was the first calf to be born alive in three years to the pod known to frequent the waters off the coast of Washington state. In that moment, surrounded by family and swimming by her mother’s side, everything was perfect.

Then, the calf stopped moving, and J35 experienced a mother’s worst horror. She watched her baby die — less than an hour after giving birth to her.
But J35 wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

For hours, she grieved, carrying the dead calf on her head as she swam, Ken Balcomb, founder and principal investigator of the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, told The Washington Post. The hours turned into days, and on Thursday she was still seen pushing her baby to the water’s surface.

“That’s not unprecedented, but it’s the longest one that I’ve personally witnessed,” Balcomb said.

Over the past three days, J35 has continued to follow her pod, traveling up to Vancouver, B.C.,  before returning to San Juan Island on Thursday afternoon, Balcomb said. Each day, she averaged anywhere between 60 to 70 miles, all while working to keep her baby’s 400-pound body afloat.

What J35 is doing is not easy, Deborah Giles, a killer whale biologist with the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology, told The Washington Post.

“If you’re a whale or a dolphin, it means that you have to go down and pick that animal up as it’s sinking, bring it to the surface, hold your breath for as long as you can and then basically dump your baby off your head in order just to take a breath,” said Giles, who observed J35 from a research boat Thursday.

J35 managed to do this repeatedly, all while fighting a strong current, Giles said. She added that it was likely the mother orca had also not eaten in days.

The mother’s dedication is a testament to the strong bonds that social animals, such as orcas, form with their offspring.

“It’s real, and it’s raw,” Giles said. “It’s obvious what’s happening. You cannot interpret it any other way. This is an animal that is grieving for its dead baby, and she doesn’t want to let it go. She’s not ready.”
This reaction is similar to how many people feel when they lose a child, Giles said.

“That’s part of what people are picking up on, like ‘My God, I would feel the same way,’ ” she said. “ ’If I had a baby that only took a couple breaths, I wouldn’t want to let it go, either.’" 

This type of grieving behavior is not unique to killer whales and has been exhibited by marine mammals including Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and sperm whales, according to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Mammalogy. On land, chimpanzees are also known to carry around their dead babies.

While the orca calf’s death is a tragedy for her mother, it has also left researchers “devastated,” Balcomb said.

The southern resident killer whale population is facing an “imminent threat of extinction,” according to a statement from the Center for Whale Research, which has studied the population for more than 40 years. Currently, the clan has 75 whales, down from 98 in 1995, and many of its females will soon be too old to reproduce, Balcomb said. Orcas have a gestation period of 15 to 18 months, which means mothers can give birth only every three to five years.
“This may be the last generation that we get to see of the whales,” Balcomb said. “Their reproductive life is about 25 years. We’ve wasted 20 of those years just having meetings and conference calls and writing reports and wringing our hands.”

Reproduction rates for the population have been dismal. Over the past two decades, about 75 percent of newborns have not survived, researchers say. Since 2015, no pregnancies have produced viable offspring.
A new baby, especially a female capable of reproduction, was exactly what the dwindling whale population needed.

“To lose a calf now, to lose another potential female that could add to the population, is devastating,” Giles said. “This is exactly the opposite of what we need to be happening.”

The whales face three major threats to survival: toxins, ship traffic and a lack of food, specifically Chinook salmon, according to the Center for Whale Research.

There is evidence that the shortage of food has affected the clan’s reproductive success, Balcomb said. Researchers have not determined what caused J35’s baby to die, but Balcomb believes “malnutrition of the mother is most likely.”

In March, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed an executive order to protect orcas and Chinook salmon, both of which are the state’s “signature species.”
The southern resident killer whales were given their name because they would be seen in the area “virtually every day,” as opposed to more transient pods, Balcomb said. In 2006, more than 500,000 people went on whale-watching ships, according to a 2014 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration technical memorandumon the whale watching industry in the Puget Sound. Annually, nearly 200,000 people visit Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island to view the whales from land, the memo said.

While thousands still flock to see the whales, sightings aren’t always guaranteed. May was the first month no southern resident killer whales were documented in inland waters, Giles said.

The image of J35 carrying the body of her calf is a “reality check” for those involved in the effort to save the orca population, she said.

“Heartbreaking is the only thing you can think,” she said. “It actually breaks your heart. It’s a true thing when they say that your heart hurts. My heart hurt.”

April 5th, 2013 by Chris Dunagan

A research project that involved tracking the travels of K pod for more than three months in the Pacific Ocean apparently has ended, as the transmitter seems to have run out of battery power, according to research biologist Brad Hanson.

“This has been a phenomenal deployment,” Brad told me yesterday after it appeared he had logged the final transmission from K-25. “It has been a quantum leap forward for us in terms of understanding what is going on.”

K-25 is a 22-year-old male orca who was implanted with a satellite tag on Dec. 29. The battery was expected to last for 32,000 transmissions, and it actually reached about 35,000, said Hanson of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. No data arrived yesterday during the normal transmission period.

The three months of satellite tracking data will be combined with fecal and prey samples from a 10-day research cruise to serve up a wealth of information about where the Southern Resident killer whales go and what they eat during the early part of the year, Brad said. Until now, this has been a major blank spot in the understanding of these whales, he noted.

The information gathered over the past three months should prove valuable in management efforts to protect and restore these orcas, which are familiar to human residents of the Puget Sound region. After the data are analyzed, federal officials should be able to say whether they have enough information to expand “critical habitat” into coastal areas for the endangered killer whales. If not, we should know what additional information may be required.

Brad says he feels a high level of anticipation from his fellow killer whale experts who are eager to learn of the research findings, especially the results of what the whales are eating.
“We have a tremendous amount of data, and we’re trying to push it through as quickly as we can,” he said.

Brad says he won’t release the findings until the analysis is further along. But he did dangle this intriguing tidbit in front of me: The whales are NOT eating chinook salmon exclusively.
The tracking project has another benefit, Hanson said. It will bring new meaning to more than three years of acoustic data (recorded sounds) picked up by hydrophones dispersed along the Washington Coast. Until now, it was not possible to determine the locations of the whales from their sounds alone, because the sounds could be picked up from many miles away. Now, thanks to tracking data, the intensities of their calls and echolocation clicks can be correlated with distance to a greater extent. Researchers are developing a computer model to identify possible locations from as much as seven years of hydrophone data in some places.

The tracking project began on Dec. 29, when K-25, named Scoter, was darted with a satellite tag near Southworth in Kitsap County. K-25 and presumably the rest of K pod then moved out into the ocean. Check out the tracks on NOAA’s satellite tagging website.

“We were extremely lucky to get that tag at the end of the season,” Hanson said.

It was K pod’s last trip into Puget Sound for several months, he noted, and it is a real challenge to get close enough to dart a killer whale, especially when only certain ones are candidates for the tag.

By Jan. 13, the whales had reached Northern California, where they continued south, then turned around at Point Reyes north of San Francisco Bay. They continued to wander up and down the West Coast, including Northern California, into early March. After that, they began to stay mainly off the Washington Coast with trips into northern Oregon. They seemed to focus much of their attention near the Columbia River, where early runs of salmon may be mingling.

The research cruise, originally scheduled for three weeks, ran from March 1 to March 10, cut short by the federal budget sequestration. By following the whales, researchers were able to collect 24 samples of prey (scales and/or tissues of fish) plus 21 fecal samples from the whales themselves. Shortly before the cruise, K pod met up with L pod, probably off the Washington Coast.

The ability to track the whales and the fortune of decent weather were major factors in the success of the research cruise, Brad said. In contrast, several previous cruises had netted only two prey samples and no fecal samples.

“We are ecstatic about the amount of data we collected in such a short period of time,” Brad told me. “If we would have had 21 days instead of 10, just think what we could have done.”
Tagging the whales with a dart, which penetrates the skin, has been controversial among whale observers. Some contend that we already know that the whales spend time in the Pacific Ocean, and maybe that’s enough.

But Brad says many detailed findings from the past three months were never known before — such as how much time the whales spend off the continental shelf and how much time they spend in and around canyons at the edge of the shelf.

The sampling of fish scales and fish tissues should reveal not only the species of fish, but also specific stocks of salmon as well as their age, Brad said.

“Are they actually targeting the larger and older fish?” he wondered. “Some fish are resident on the continental shelf. Are they targeting those? Are they going after the ones they can easily detect, which means not going after the smaller fish?”

The cruise also collected all kinds of information about the ecosystem, ranging from ocean depths to zooplankton to the kinds of birds seen in the area. All that information will feed into a description of the essential habitat the whales need during their winter travels.

During the cruise, another whale, L-88, a 20-year-old male named Wave Walker, was tagged as an “insurance policy” to allow the whales to be tracked if K-25′s transmitter failed. A shorter dart was used on L-88, and the tag apparently fell off about a week later.

The ocean environment is very different from Puget Sound, where the habits of the whales are well known, Brad explained. In the San Juan Islands, groups of whales are rarely far apart compared to the scale of the ocean, he noted.

In the ocean, the orcas were generally grouped up during resting periods. Sometimes Ks and Ls were together; other times they were apart. When they were foraging, however, the individual animals might be spread out for miles.

Brad said he expects to put the new information into some kind of agency report, probably followed by a peer-reviewed journal article.

“We have put a lot of time and effort to get to this point,” he said, adding that the researchers feel a sense of accomplishment now that the effort has paid off.

Read more: http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2013/04/05/orca-tagging-project-comes-to-an-end-for-now/#ixzz2Q5IfpQos

By Dr. Deborah Giles, May 16, 2015

Ten years ago, the Southern Resident orca population was officially listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  In the decade since, the Southern Residents have declined in number in the face of numerous threats and a continually diminishing food source.  The survival of this unique orca population is closely linked to the abundance of their preferred prey – Chinook salmon – and WDC is proud to be part of a developing coalition that is working to save both the Southern Residents and the salmon they need to thrive.  These two species, iconic images in their Pacific Northwest home, and recognized and revered worldwide, are vital parts of their ecosystem, and they are in need of recovery efforts on an ecosystem-wide scale to ensure their future. 

This Whale and Dolphin Conservation guest blog is from Dr. Deborah Giles, a research affiliate with UC Davis who has been studying the Southern Resident killer whales for over a decade.  She is a founding member of the Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists (SSAMN) and the Southern Resident Killer Whale Chinook Salmon Initiative (SRKW CSI).  As part of the coalition, we are working on restoring rivers in the Pacific Northwest, starting with the Snake River – one of the key components for the survival of Chinook salmon and the Southern Residents.

Learn more about Whale and Dolphin Conservation at their website.

What else do the Southern Residents need to survive?  Read on to find out….

New babies

The recent births of four calves in the federally listed endangered Southern Resident killer whale population are worthy of celebration because this small population of whales has been declining since 2010, and they haven’t had a surviving calf for more than two years.  Also worth noting is that at least one of the new calves – J50, born in December 2014, has been confirmed to be female.  The Southern Resident orca population is in desperate need of more female calves because since 2006, there have been twice as many surviving male calves than females ones.  This skewed ratio of male to female means there will be less genetic diversity in the whale population in the future.  After reaching breeding age, female killer whales only produce a calf every 4-5 years, so there needs to be a lot of females in a population if it is to increase in number; if most of the babies being born now are male, then the population will have even less chance of recovery in the future.

When the Southern Resident killer whales were listed as endangered in 2005, the federal government set a recovery goal of a population increase of 2.3 percent annually for 28 years.  With 88 whales in the population when they were listed, they have not come near this goal, and have in fact declined significantly to a mere 77 individuals as of the end of 2014, according to the Center for Whale Research’s most recent census.  Therefore, while these four calves are certainly excellent news for this struggling population, we must balance those gains against the loss of four other whales in 2014, which leaves the population at 81 individuals, assuming all four of the new calves survive.  The whales need our help to increase the amount of food available to them year-round and throughout their entire known range in order to ensure the survival of whales of all ages, and especially of these new additions. 

More salmon

Research continues to illustrate the importance of Chinook salmon to the fish-eating Southern Residents.  The amount of food required for each whale depends on myriad whale-related variables including age, sex, and reproductive status, as well as fish variables such as species and age.  Pregnant or nursing females require more calories because the mothers are providing all the nutrients for their calves, too.  According to their federal recovery plan, adult Southern Residents need to consume 28-34 adult salmon daily; younger whales need 15-17 to meet their basic energetic requirements.   Therefore, approximately 739,000 salmon are needed annually just to maintain the current population of 81 whales in the Southern Resident population; significantly more would likely be required to increase the population.   Having enough prey available to the whales throughout their entire range and at all times of the year is vitally important for the recovery of this population. 

Typically the Southern Resident killer whales can be found from May – September in the inland waters of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound), designated by the federal government as “core summer critical habitat.” During this time of the year, 80-90% of the whale’s diet would normally consist of Chinook salmon bound for the Fraser River watershed in Canada.  Interestingly, at least five Southern Resident calves, including the four mentioned above, were conceived between June and September 2013, when the whales were remarkably absent from their inland core range. In 2013, the whales were documented on less than half the number of days in this core habitat compared to past years.  Given that 2013 was the second worst (2012 was the worst) year for Chinook returning to the Fraser River, it is reasonable to speculate that the whales were instead foraging on the reportedly high numbers of Chinook salmon (both wild and hatchery) returning to the mouth of the Columbia River during the same time period. 

Columbia River Chinook

Once the biggest wild salmon-producing river system in the world, the Columbia River Basin is thought to have produced between 10 and 16 million wild salmon annually.  Today, the entire Columbia Basin produces a meagre 2.5 million fish per year, and more than two-thirds of those are hatchery salmon.  Wild Chinook are estimated to be less than 2% of their historic numbers. Dams in the Columbia/Snake River system are a major factor in the decimation of the salmon runs. The Southern Resident orca whales, like all other killer whales, are top predators that have evolved over millennia by eating high quality, abundant prey items throughout their natural ranges.  In the past few years, several satellite-tagged Southern Resident killer whales have been documented traveling down the Pacific coast as far as California, and regularly spending significant amounts of time foraging at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington states. 

This population of apex predators likely historically utilized the once abundant and nutritionally rich Chinook salmon of the Columbia Basin.  In the recovery plan for Southern Residents, the federal government stated “Perhaps the single greatest change in food availability for resident killer whales since the late 1800s has been the decline of salmon in the Columbia River basin.” This statement clearly highlights the need to concentrate on increasing the number of wild Chinook salmon from the Columbia Basin. 

Within the Columbia Basin Watershed, the Snake River provides the best potential for recovering healthy and abundant Chinook salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest, given the river’s historic salmon production. Indeed, the Snake River watershed once produced about half of all salmon from the Columbia Basin.  Today however, myriad dams stand between the Pacific Ocean and salmon spawning grounds, resulting in only about 1% of Snake River salmon returning home to spawn.  Fortunately, half of the eight dams that block Snake River salmon from their spawning grounds are prime candidates for breaching. Dam breaching is the act of removing enough “dam” material (often the earthen berms) to allow a now-freed river to resume its natural course and flow.  Breaching is a significantly less expensive and faster way to remove the barriers than removing the structural material of the dams entirely, allowing the river to reconnect the ocean and the wilderness acres that create the best in-stream spawning habitat for salmon.  Breaching the four lower Snake River dams would open the gateway to a vast, 5,500-mile expanse of intact spawning and rearing streams that run through more than 15 million acres of wilderness.  These high-elevation streams are considered to be some of the most climate change-resistant salmon spawning streams in the entire lower 48 states. 

Breaching the lower Snake River dams would greatly increase a critical food source for the Southern Resident orcas, not only in the fall and winter months, but also in years when the Fraser River salmon populations are insufficient throughout the spring and summer months.  Although the whales were “lucky” in 2013 to find Chinook returning to the Columbia River to spawn (thanks to court-mandated increased spill from Columbia River dams starting in 2005 and favorable ocean conditions) we can’t assume that will be the case in the future.  In fact, there is every reason to believe the fish returns throughout the entire Southern Resident range are going to get significantly worse in the near future due changes in ocean variables. Already the 7-degree hotter pool of water known as the “warm blob” located off the west coast of the US between Alaska and Mexico has had a significant impact on the food web and those that rely on the cool coastal waters.

It is probable that breaching the four lower Snake River dams is the single most important measure that we can take in the United States to recover abundant salmon and steelhead in time to permit the Southern Resident orcas to survive. 

The Southern Residents face many threats to their recovery, including prey depletion, pollutants and toxins, and noise.  These threats amplify the effects of the others – when faced with prey shortages, the orcas metabolize their blubber, releasing toxins accumulated there; noisy oceans mean they have to use more energy to communicate and forage, which means they need more food.  Making sure they have enough Chinook to eat helps them with these other stressors, though it certainly doesn’t solve all the issues. WDC is working for ecosystem recovery in the Pacific Northwest to ensure the survival and protection of both salmon and the orcas that depend on them. From our support of Klamath River restoration to our work with the coalition to breach the dams on the Snake River, we want to see salmon bounce back on the west coast and ensure an abundant food source for the Southern Resident orcas.

WDC is grateful to our guest bloggers and value their contributions to whale conservation. The views and opinions expressed by our guest bloggers are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of, and should not be attributed to, WDC.

In this issue:

1. Washington State Senate and House members send letter opposing HR 3144
2. Court orders increase in spill at Snake and Columbia river dams to help salmon in 2018
3. 'Loaves and Fishes' – SOS kicks off a discussion series in the Inland Northwest
4. ‘A Tale of Two Rivers’ draws large crowds and rich discussions in Seattle and Spokane
5. Congratulations! Nez Perce Tribe’s Watershed Division Awarded ‘Native Fish Conservationist of the Year’
6. Atlantic salmon net pens’ days appear numbered in Washington State
7. Relevant media from around the region
8. Salmon mean business! A special thanks to Duke’s Seafood and Chowder; Benziger Family Wines, and Fremont Brewing Company

1. Washington State Senate and House members send letter opposing HR 3144

On February 20, Senator Murray and Representatives Adam Smith (WA-9) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) sent a letter to the leadership in the U.S. Congress expressing their strong opposition to HR 3144, an anti-salmon bill that was introduced in the House by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers back in June 2017. This latest letter joins similar statements of opposition that have been issued by Governor Jay Inslee (WA) and Governor Kate Brown (OR). Despite the mounting opposition in the Pacific Northwest, salmon and fishing advocates remain concerned that this bill will be pushed through Congress as a rider on a piece of “must-pass” legislation.

HR 3144 is a very bad deal. If it becomes law, it will overturn the excellent court decision from 2016 that rejected the federal agencies’ fifth consecutive Columbia-Snake salmon plan. 3144 would reinstate the inadequate and illegal 2014 Plan. It would weaken the Endangered Species Act and undermine our nation's obligations to Treaty Tribes. It would harm already-endangered salmon, critically endangered orca that need more salmon to survive, and struggling fishing communities. HR 3144 would also derail the much-needed environmental review ordered by the court and underway since October 2016. The review must make a full and fair examination of all salmon restoration alternatives, including the removal of four costly dams and the restoration of the lower Snake River. HR 3144, however, would prohibit even the study of dam removal or increased spill over the dams to help improve survival of juvenile salmon as they migrate through the deadly series of federal dams and reservoirs.

Read the Senate/House letter here.

Thank Senator Murray and Reps. Smith and Jayapal here. (Washington residents)

Send a note to your Congressional electeds to urge them to oppose HR 3144 here.

See other timely actions here.

Here is an Associated Press story about the Congressional Letter that appeared in newspapers including the Washington Post, Spokesman Review, and Lewiston Morning Tribune.

2. Court orders increase in spill at Snake and Columbia river dams to help salmon in 2018

On January 9, Judge Michael Simon of the U.S. District Court in Portland approved of a plan to increase spill during the spring months of 2018 over the lower Snake and lower Columbia River dams in order to provide further help for out-migrating juvenile salmon that are endangered by the federal hydro-system. The plan was jointly submitted by plaintiffs (salmon/fishing/orca/river advocates and the Nez Perce Tribe and State of Oregon) and defendants (federal dam agencies and NOAA) in late 2017 as requested by the court.

As a quick backgrounder, you’ll recall that the Court rejected the federal agencies' latest (2014) Columbia-Snake salmon plan in May 2016. At that time, it ordered the agencies to initiate the NEPA environmental review to examine all recovery options including lower Snake River dam removal. Soon after the ruling, plaintiffs asked the Court to order additional protection for at-risk salmon and steelhead, given the clearly inadequate, illegal plan. The Court ordered an increase in spill – to the maximum allowed under existing state water quality standards, starting in 2018, and asked the parties to develop that detailed plan together, if possible.

There’s a catch here though. While the agencies joined with salmon advocates to submit the plan to increase spill for 2018, they also decided to challenge the Court’s order to increase spill in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. So, as you read this, work is underway on this appeal. Due to the fast-approaching migration season (it starts in early April), the 9th Circuit has expedited their review of this case. Arguments will be presented before a three-judge panel on March 20 in San Francisco, and we expect a decision on Judge Simon's order very soon afterward.

The decision from the 9th Circuit will be a big deal for salmon, orca, fishing communities and others that rely on salmon and steelhead. These endangered populations need more help today, not less, and increased spill levels are the best option in the near-term to provide this help until we plan and implement a more comprehensive plan for the Columbia-Snake Basin that includes lower Snake dam removal, increased spill on the dams that remain, and other necessary measures. Stay tuned for legal updates later this month!

See press coverage on the Court’s Jan. 9 order here.

See our press release on the order here.

3. ‘Loaves and Fishes’ – SOS kicks off a discussion series in the Inland Northwest

March 4 will see the inaugural “Loaves and Fishes” gathering at Salem Lutheran Church in Spokane. This will be the beginning of a series that will feature tribal members, faith leaders, farmers and commercial fishermen sharing their values and their visions for the future of the Snake River and the wild salmon that inhabit it. The faith community has been a significant voice on salmon recovery, from the work of tribal leaders to preserve their ceremonies and way of life, to the spiritual musings of widely renowned author David James Duncan, and the voices of Catholic Bishops in their 2001 Pastoral Letter on the Columbia River Watershed. We will continue this tradition by engaging Eastern Washington communities in a morally guided dialogue that takes seriously the cares and concerns of all stakeholders and the Tribes. Wheat and wild salmon can share a space on our plate, in our economy and on the landscape in a manner that makes our communities stronger and more resilient.

Through these events we are inviting people less familiar with the details of Columbia-Snake salmon recovery to join together at the table, share a meal, ask questions, and form new alliances across different perspectives. The Spokane event on March 4 will feature David Brown Eagle of the Spokane Tribe, Rev. Liv Larson Andrews of Salem Lutheran Church, wheat farmer Bryan Jones, salmon fisherman Ron Richards, and Elliott Moffett of Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment. All are invited to join us for this as well as the subsequent events in Moscow (April 10), Walla Walla (April 12), and La Grande (April 14).

Contact jacob@wildsalmon.org for further details.

4. ‘A Tale of Two Rivers’ draws large crowds and rich discussions in Seattle and Spokane

Two of the Pacific Northwest’s acclaimed veteran journalists offered their perspectives on salmon, river restoration and dam removal to packed audiences at Seattle’s Burke Museum and Spokane’s historic Cracker Building in January at 'A Tale of Two Rivers'. Lynda Mapes with the Seattle Times reflected on the tremendous ecological restoration underway on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula after two obsolete dams were removed in 2012, and Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker offered his perspective on the changing conversation and economics, and sense of urgency for wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia-Snake Basin. His comments focused especially on the state of play on the lower Snake River and the growing pressure to remove its four dams to restore salmon to thousands of miles of river in his home state. Former KING5 meteorologist Jeff Renner and Spokesman-Review Outdoor Editor Eli Francovich moderated the discussions and audience questions.

Barker and Mapes' on-the-ground knowledge and decades-long reporting on these rivers informed a thoughtful dialogue on lessons learned from the Elwha success story that can guide the work to build community support and political momentum for a similar success story on the Snake. Critical to the success on the Elwha and key to restoring the Snake River: building common ground with diverse stakeholders, providing solutions to help communities thrive and transition, and ultimately - persistence, persistence, persistence. Both evenings ended with a strong sense of hope for what is possible when citizens work together build the community solutions and political will to make positive change.

To learn more about the Elwha, pick up a copy of A River Reborn by Mapes and Seattle Times photographer Steve Ring.

And dive into Barker’s extensive 2017 multi-media series on the Snake River and its dams and salmon.

HUGE THANKS to our generous event sponsors including Duke’s Seafood & Chowder, Betziger Wines, Fremont Brewing Company Mountaineers Books in Seattle and Central Food, Kop Construction, Aunties Books and Eco Depot Solar in Spokane; and organization sponsors: Sierra Club, Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, American Whitewater, National Wildlife Federation, NW Energy Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Wild Steelhead Coalitionand Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment.

Stay tuned for video posts (full length and excerpts) from the Seattle event coming soon.

5. Congratulations! Nez Perce Tribe’s Watershed Division Awarded ‘Native Fish Conservationist of the Year’


The Watershed Division for the Nez Perce Tribe’s Fishery Department has been awarded the Richard L. Wallace Native Fish Conservationist of the Year Award. The award was presented on behalf of the Native Fish Committee of the Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.
 
"Each year the committee recognizes outstanding achievements in the theatre of native fish conservation in Idaho by a single individual, group, or organization," officials say.
 
The Committee's website says that the award was created by the Native Fish Committee in 2004 and is presented annually to an individual, group, or organization for outstanding achievement in native fish conservation in Idaho. The recipients are selected by the Native Fish Committee Chair from nominations made by Idaho Chapter members and the award is presented by the Native Fish Committee Chair at the annual meeting.
 


More information on the Watershed Division here.

More information on the Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries Society here.

6. Atlantic salmon net pens’ days appear numbered in Washington State!

In what will be a big win for wild salmon and orca, the Salish Sea, Tribal communities, fishermen and conservationists, the Washington State Legislature is poised to vote on legislation that will permanently phase out Atlantic salmon fish farm operations in the Puget Sound. Following on the massive jail break by several hundred thousand Atlantic salmon in 2017, there has been a growing bi-partisan chorus to eliminate net pens in Washington State. Net pens create all kinds of problems in waters where they exist and create a whole new set of problems for already-endangered wild salmon. It doesn’t make any sense to promote these harmful fish farms while at the same time we’re spending millions of dollars to protect native populations from extinction.

Washington is the only state on the west coast that currently allows these types of fish farms. They have been long prohibited in California, Oregon and Alaska. British Columbia (Canada) still allows fish farming, though they are highly controversial and strongly opposed by conservationists, First Nations, orca advocates, and many fishermen.

Here are a couple of recent press stories on the controversy and debate in Washington State:

Seattle Times: Puget Sound region’s Atlantic salmon fish farms could be headed for final harvest (Feb. 26)

Seattle Times: Cooke Aquaculture inspection finds problems at 2 other Atlantic salmon pens (Feb. 18)

7. Relevant media from around the region:

Columbia Basin Bulletin: Harvest Managers Predict 23 Percent Decline In 2018 Fall Chinook Run, One-Half Of 10-Year Average (March 2)Harvest Managers Predict 23 Percent Decline In 2018 Fall Chinook Run, One-Half Of 10-Year Average (March 2)

Associated Press: U.S. considers protected status for wild spring Chinook in the Klamath Basin (Feb. 24)

Science News: Largest Chinook salmon disappearing from West Coast (Feb. 27)

Science News: Wind and solar power could meet four-fifths of US electricity demand, study finds (Feb. 27)

8. Salmon mean business!

In this issue, SOS would like to thank these businesses for their support for protecting and restoring the healthy habitat that wild salmon and steelhead – and the ecological, economic and cultural benefits that they deliver – depend upon. We hope that you'll support them with your dollars. For a fuller list of our business allies and partners, visit our website.

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is produced by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the condition and trends of endangered wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia-Snake River Basin and the many benefits they deliver to the people and ecosystems in the Northwest and nation. And to find out what you can do to get more involved and help protect and restore them to healthy, abundant and fishable populations.

Contact Angela if you have questions or to discuss how to get more involved.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. 2019 RETURNS OF THE SNAKE AND COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON FALL FAR SHORT OF FISH MANAGERS’ LOW PREDICTIONS; COMMUNITIES STRUGGLE AS FISHING SEASONS CLOSE

2. CONGRESSMAN MIKE SIMPSON (R-ID) ASKS “WHAT IF?” THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS MUST BE REMOVED TO PROTECT SALMON AND STEELHEAD FROM EXTINCTION

3. POLITICAL PROGRESS AND EMERGING LEADERSHIP IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

4. ‘DAMMED TO EXTINCTION’ - NEW DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS THE PLIGHT OF SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RESTORING THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER AND ITS SALMON

5. NEW CALF IN MAY MEANS “+1” FOR SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS!

1. 2019 RETURNS OF THE SNAKE AND COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON FALL FAR SHORT OF FISH MANAGERS’ LOW PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS; NORTHWEST COMMUNITIES STRUGGLE AS FISHING SEASONS CLOSE.

Almost across the board, adult salmon returns to the Columbia and Snake River continue to head in the wrong direction. Returns so far this season for spring Chinook, sockeye and steelhead all show continued and very troubling declines. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 2019 forecast for Snake River Spring Chinook, for example, was just 11,200 fish - of which 2,100 were wild fish (Historic returns numbered in the millions). Then, in late May, forecasts were downgraded twice, with returns occurring at only 30% of these initial projections. As a result of these terrible returns, Idaho closed Chinook salmon fishing on the Clearwater river in May, with Washington State quickly following suit.

Summer Chinook returns which began in mid-June were initially tracking fish managers’ (low) pre-season estimates, but recently dropped off. The only potential bright spot may be coho, or silver salmon, but it is still too early to know for certain. They are particularly sensitive to ocean conditions; their relatively robust numbers may indicate that cyclic poor ocean conditions have recently improved. Most Columbia River coho begin life in hatcheries and return to the lower Columbia River – and so are largely unaffected by Bonneville and the other federal dams and reservoirs further upstream.

Context is critical here. Salmon returns to the Columbia Basin this year are among the lowest on record – they are coming in at just a fraction of the 10-year average and in many cases far below what fisheries experts predicted at the start of the season. For Snake River populations, this is the fifth consecutive year of decline in adult returns. Despite billions of dollars spent across more than two decades, the return-on-investment is, by any definition, unacceptable. Clearly, a new lawful and science-based approach is needed (Hint: it includes a restored, freely flowing river).

Needless to say, the benefits that salmon deliver – including essential food for critically endangered Southern Resident orca – have also declined steeply too and are creating a nest of related problems harming communities and ecosystems.

For communities like Riggins, Idaho, these fishing closures mean severe economic harm. The sport fishing industry has been a huge component of their annual income and economic activity: guiding, sales, rentals, hotels, food, etc. Without fishing opportunity, the town’s tourism economy suffers. Kerry Brennan, a part-time guide told the Lewiston Morning Tribune that he thought salmon returns had already bottomed out in years previous, and “if this ain’t the bottom, it’s going to be pretty scary.”

Robust salmon runs up the Snake and into tributaries like the Clearwater River can attract tourists regionally and nationally. A study by the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation found that a restored salmon and steelhead fishery would create thousands of full-time jobs statewide and add hundreds of millions of dollars annually to river communities like Riggins, Salmon, and Challis. A restored Snake River has the potential to not only bring back healthy salmon runs, but to also rebuild and diversify healthy communities across the Northwest.

For more information:

(1) Seattle Times: Chinook bust on the Columbia: Spring returns worse than forecast on Northwest’s largest river (Mapes, 30 May 2019)

(2) Lewiston Morning Tribune: Spring chinook season comes to close (Barker, 5 June 2019)

(3) Idaho Fish & Game: very few sockeye salmon returning to Idaho (9 July 2019) 

2. CONGRESSMAN MIKE SIMPSON (R-ID) ASKS “WHAT IF?” THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS MUST BE REMOVED TO PROTECT SALMON AND STEELHEAD FROM EXTINCTION

At a conference last April hosted by the Andrus Center of Public Policy, Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID) delivered keynote remarks expressing his grave concerns about the declining populations of Idaho-bound wild salmon and steelhead and the health and future of the Bonneville Power Administration (the agency responsible for marketing and distributing the power generated by the federal dams in the Columbia Basin).

Congressman Simpson announced that he is “getting tired of Idaho paying the costs of those dams and getting none of the benefits” and he committed “to do whatever is necessary to bring the salmon back.” Congressman Simpson’s remarks were welcomed by salmon and fishing advocates across the region that have been fighting for years to protect and restore native fish populations endangered by the harmful effects of the federal dams and their reservoirs – especially on the lower Snake River. Though he did not explicitly endorse removal of the lower Snake River dams, he did serve it up as an option that he and his staff have been studying closely and talking about with others.

The facts around Snake River salmon, of course, are stark and urgent action is needed to protect and restore the Northwest’s native fish and the many benefits they deliver to our communities and ecology.

• All remaining Snake River salmon and steelhead populations are at risk of extinction today
• Adult returns to the Snake River have declined steadily in each of the last five years and in 2019 are among the lowest returns on record.
• Our region and nation has spent $16B+ over the past two decades, but has yet to recover a single population in the Columbia and Snake rivers.
• Many fishing businesses and communities on the coast and inland are struggling to make ends meet; declining Snake and Columbia river salmon and steelhead returns are a big part of the problem.
  
• The last five salmon plans produced by the federal government have all been found inadequate and illegal.

By any metric, the federal government’s salmon strategy for the Columbia Basin is failing and a dramatically new approach is needed. Congressman Simpson understands this.

Congressman Simpson is also worried about the big financial challenges that the BPA faces today: it has burned through more than $800M in reserves in the last 5 or so years; its projects – dams and reservoirs – are aging and costs to maintain and repair are steadily rising. Despite heavy spending, its salmon recovery investments have delivered a dismal return-on-investment, its latest plan is illegal, and the court – and the people of the Northwest – require much more. Meanwhile, renewable energy projects are expanding and their costs plummeting. For the first time in more than 80 years, the BPA business model isn’t working so well. In his comments in April, Rep. Simpson emphasized the importance of both BPA and wild salmon to the people of Idaho and the Northwest and the need to address the related problems they face together.

(1) Read some of Congressman Simpson’s quotes from his keynote address at the Andrus Center conference here (PDF).

(2) See Congressman Simpson’s full remarks here (45 minutes; video).

(3) Idaho Statesman: Simpson stops short of calling for dam removal to save salmon. But he is asking, ‘What if?’ (25 April 2019)

(4) Seattle Times Guest Opinion: Can Bonneville Power Administration be saved? (31 May 2019) 

3. POLITICAL PROGRESS AND EMERGING LEADERSHIP IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

While Congressman Simpson has made recent public commitments to restore wild salmon and steelhead and ensure a healthy BPA, he isn't the only one. In the last several years, policymakers at the state and federal levels have begun to step up, shake up the status quo and push for real solutions to recover salmon, protect orca and invest in affected communities. SOS supports this leadership and calls for it to continue and grow.

First, it is important to recognize the strong and successful partnership that SOS and its member groups have maintained with the State of Oregon and Nez Perce Tribe. We are very grateful for this alliance. Both have been steadfast in their commitment to salmon recovery, to holding the federal government accountable to the federal laws and to upholding our obligations to Northwest people, cultures and ecosystems.

Second, we greatly appreciate Senator Murray’s successful efforts to kill HR 3144 in the 2017-18 Republican-controlled Congress. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ bill would have overturned the excellent 2016 court decision that invalidated the federal agencies’ latest (terrible) salmon plan and it would have rolled back court-ordered spill that’s helping salmon in the near-term while we work to restore the lower Snake River by removing its four deadbeat dams.

Third, we applaud Governor Inslee and the Washington State legislature for supporting and fully funding ($750K) Lower Snake River Stakeholder Forum that will bring stakeholders together in the coming months to identify and detail the types of investments that will be needed to transition affected communities if/when these four dams are removed. This is a critical conversation that cannot occur soon enough.

Fourth, in recognition of the critical plight of salmon and steelhead populations in Idaho, Governor Little recently convened Idaho’s own Salmon Recovery Working Group – bringing together stakeholders to identify strategies and actions that will recover Idaho’s native fish populations.

Finally – and perhaps most importantly – we need to recognize and acknowledge YOU and so many others like you – that have attended meetings, made phone calls, sent emails and delivered support and pressure to our policymakers. None of the progress we’ve made would have happened without your help. Endless pressure, endlessly applied. We will never recover wild salmon, restore a free flowing lower Snake River, or protect Southern Resident orcas without your active support. Thank you for all you have done to help open a critical window of opportunity for salmon, orcas and communities. We have much hard work ahead to support the leadership to date – and to build on it in the weeks and months ahead. The plight of orca and salmon is urgent – and there’s no time to waste. Thank you!

4. ‘DAMMED TO EXTINCTION’ - NEW DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS THE PLIGHT OF SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RESTORING THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER AND ITS SALMON

The recently released documentary Dammed to Extinction explores the urgent plight of Southern Resident orcas and their need for many more chinook salmon. This unique whale population was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2005 but their numbers have continued to decline since that time. Today just 76 whales survive.

The film focuses on the Northwest’s ‘dean of orca research’ Ken Balcomb and other orca experts and advocates who describe this amazing community of whales and explain how the four dams on the lower Snake River have choked off a critical orca prey (spring chinook salmon) from access to 5,000+ miles of once highly productive river and stream habitat upstream. Experts predict that restoring this river in southeast Washington State by removing its costly, deadly dams will return many hundreds of thousands of chinook salmon each year and help feed starving orcas during the critical winter months when other salmon populations are especially scarce.

SOS and our coalition partners are working with the filmmakers to show the documentary in Northwest locations and inspire audiences to act. We are planning additional screenings in the coming months. Check here for a schedule of dates and locations.

For further information:

(1) Dammed to Extinction website

(2) Seattle Times: Hunger, the Decline of Salmon Adds to the Struggle of Puget Sound’s Orca (February 2019)

(3) Orca Scientists' Letter to Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force re: spring chinook, spill and lower Snake River dam removal (Oct. 2018)

5. NEW CALF IN MAY MEANS “+1” FOR SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS!

In late May, a new calf was spotted among the Southern Resident orca. This is the second calf to be born to the group of whale since the start of 2019!

The newest orca born to the J Pod, J56, brings the total count of Southern Resident orcas up to 76. Scientists were further thrilled when it was determined that the new calf was a girl. "If she makes it to her teens she might start producing babies of her own," Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research told Q13 Fox.

Last summer, the region watched in heartbreak as J35 (Tahlequah) pushed her dead calf around for 17 days and over 1,000 miles. These two births bring great hope, as only about 50% of orca survive to see their 2nd birthday, and no calf born to the southern residents from 2016-2018 survived. As of now, the two new calves appear healthy.

With the population so low, every individual whale is critical for the orcas' survival and recovery.

For more information:

(1) Seattle Time: New orca calf reported in southern-resident J pod

(1) Seattle Times: It’s a girl: Researchers get closer look at J pod orca baby

Finally, we would like to thank the following businesses for their support and generous contribution to SOS!

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is produced by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to the people and ecosystems of the Northwest, and the extinction crisis they face today. You’ll learn about our campaign to restore health, connectivity and resilience to the rivers and streams they depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin, and how you can get involved help protect and restore healthy, abundant and fishable populations.

Contact Carrie if you have questions or to discuss how to get more involved.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Nimiipuu River Rendezvous 2019! Hundreds gather in support of restoring a freely-flowing lower Snake River and its endangered native fishes.
2. Fifty-five scientists send letter to policymakers - With warming waters, we have a choice to make in the lower Snake River: it's either dams or salmon.
3. Save Our wild Salmon and Earth Ministry co-host “Loaves and Fishes” in Spokane.
4. Salmon and orca advocates press Northwest Power and Conservation Council members for urgent action and leadership.
5. Advocates press Washington and Oregon to fix water quality standards to increase spill and help salmon now!
6. Dammed to Extinction documentary gains a national profile with screenings in Washington D.C. and New York City.
7. Coming in early 2020: The court-ordered review of Columbia/Snake River salmon/steelhead recovery options is due for public release in February 2020
8. Farewell (for now!) to Angela – superstar organizer in our Seattle office!

1. Nimiipuu River Rendezvous 2019! Hundreds gather in support of restoring a freely-flowing lower Snake River and its endangered native fishes.

During a long weekend in September, tribal and non-tribal fishermen, business people, conservationists and others from across the Pacific Northwest came together to celebrate salmon and the many benefits they bring to people and ecosystems – and to raise our voices in support of a freely-flowing lower Snake River. This was the fifth annual gathering on the banks of the lower Snake River and was formerly called the “Free the Snake Flotilla.”

More than 400 people joined forces at the Hell’s Gate State Park outside of Lewiston (ID) and Clarkston (WA) for a paddle on the lower Snake River on Saturday and a series of presentations, discussions and films (Dammed to Extinction and A Healing Journey) over the course of the weekend. This year’s event was led by the Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, with support from several other organizations, including SOS. The Rendezvous drew people from all over the Pacific Northwest, and had fantastic youth attendance with scores of high school and college students – the next generation of water protectors and salmon restorers!

We extend a huge thank you to everyone that attended and helped with the Rendezvous this year – especially to Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment and the many supporting and participating organizations including Earthjustice, Friends of the Clearwater, Defenders of Wildlife, Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited, Earth Ministry, Palouse-Clearwater Trout Unlimited and Sierra Club. 

Also, many thanks to Spokane-based Roast House Coffee who kept the event deliciously caffeinated with sustainably-produced coffee. And a huge shout-out to Spokane’s solar installation company Eco Depot who provided the safety pontoon boat, endless volunteer help and boundless energy and enthusiasm. Solar Saves Salmon.

2. Fifty-five scientists send letter to policymakers - With warming waters, we have a choice to make on the lower Snake River: it's either dams or salmon.

On Oct. 22, fifty-five scientists sent a letter to the governors and Members of Congress of Idaho, Washington and Oregon to highlight how the federal dams and reservoirs on the lower Snake River are combining with a changing climate to elevate water temperatures to lethal levels for salmon in summer months. As you may recall, high river temperatures devastated the sockeye salmon return to the Columbia-Snake Basin in 2015. It killed 250,000 sockeye salmon in July and August, including 96 percent of federally endangered sockeye returning to the Snake River. As the climate warms, years like 2015 will become more frequent, more intense and longer lasting.

In their letter to policymakers, scientists stated that lower Snake River dam removal is our best, and very likely only, option to reduce temperatures sufficiently to protect Snake River salmon from extinction. Restoring the lower Snake River and access for native fish to the thousands of miles of pristine rivers and streams in Idaho, northeast Oregon and southeast Washington is also our very best salmon/river restoration opportunity anywhere on the West Coast.

The scientists letter to policymakers regarding hot water in the lower Snake River is available here.

Lewiston Morning Tribune: Scientists assert only breaching can cool Northwest waterways (Oct. 23, 2019)

3. Save Our wild Salmon and Earth Ministry co-host “Loaves and Fishes” event in Spokane

At a Spokane Loaves and Fishes event on October 22 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, a panel of farmers, commercial fishermen, Northwest tribal members and activists led a discussion with a room full of community members on a wide range of related topics including the lower Snake River dams, salmon conservation, agriculture, and tribal justice in the Columbia-Snake River Basin. The event, hosted by SOS and Earth Ministry, was aimed at addressing the well-being and future of salmon and the human communities that rely on healthy, resilient rivers.

Explained Earth Ministry Program and Outreach Director Jessica Zimmerle, “we believe in a future in which we can honor tribal treaty rights and restore salmon and ensure the livelihood of our farmers and fishermen, all with a vibrant, free-flowing lower Snake River.”

Loaves and Fishes is an on-going event series in the Inland Northwest co-lead by SOS and Earth Ministry, and supported by other organizations and community members.

These community events are designed to foster conversation that both highlight the challenges facing salmon and their rivers in the Columbia-Snake River Basin and explore durable, inclusive solutions to restore healthy salmon populations and ensure vibrant fishing and farming communities locally and regionally. For more information, contact Carrie: carrie@wildsalmon.org.

Spokane Faves: Event seeks to create a better future for lower Snake River(Oct. 24, 2019)

4. Salmon and orca advocates press Northwest Power and Conservation Council members for urgent action and leadership.

SOS teamed up with Sierra Club, Earth Ministry and others on October 15 to host a reception, rally and informal training in Seattle to help people understand and prepare for the Northwest Power Council’s final public hearing on its latest Fish and Wildlife Amendment. The Council updates their F&W plan every five years, and they’ve been taking public comment from across the region over the past several months.

Our organizing efforts turned out the largest crowd the Council has seen in any of their hearings to date. We had over a hundred people attend our pre-hearing rally, and then approximately 25 people provided testimony. People spoke from a range of perspectives – but everyone echoed the same themes: time is urgent, salmon and orca face extinction today, and the Council needs to think creatively, move quickly and engage their Governors (Inslee, Brown, Little and Bullock) in pursuing the big actions that salmon, orca and Northwest communities need today – including the restoration of the lower Snake River and its endangered salmon and steelhead.

The speakers were all excellent and included two representatives of the Chinook Nation near the mouth of the Columbia River, a 9-year old boy named Henry, energy experts, orca researchers, salmon advocates, fishing people, and many more. Some people delivered facts; others spoke poignantly from the heart. All asked for leadership and urgent and effective action. A huge thanks from SOS to everyone that attended and supported the speakers.

You can read Joseph’s public comments/testimony here.

5. Advocates press Washington and Oregon to fix water quality standards to increase 'spill' and help salmon now!

According to scores of salmon biologists, spilling water over the federal dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers is the best thing that the federal agencies who manage the dams can do in the near-term to help endangered salmon and steelhead as they migrate as young fish to the Pacific Ocean through the lethal system of dams and reservoirs.

The fact is: 'spill' is a critical lifeline now for imperiled Snake River fish until we have a long-term, lawful plan that removes four federal dams and replace their modest services with alternatives.

Salmon and fishing advocates working with the State of Oregon and Nez Perce Tribe have, through highly effective court action, repeatedly forced the federal agencies to steadily increase dam spill in the spring and summer when the juvenile fish are migrating to the ocean.

Back in December 2018, however, the federal agencies decided to join an interim agreement with Oregon, Washington and the Nez Perce Tribe to increase spill ‘flexibly’ between 2019-2021. This “flexible spill agreement” was designed to do three things during these three years: improve fish survival, reduce spill’s financial hit on BPA, and lessen the risk of new litigation.

In order to fully implement this agreement for the 2020 and 2021 salmon migrations, it requires Oregon and Washington to modify their water quality standards and thereby allow increased spill at the dams. Both states are working hard now to get this done – and SOS and allied organizations are keeping a close eye to ensure the new rules are done right and on time.  We’ve submitted technical letters; we’ve testified at public hearings; and we (with your support!) have delivered hundreds of signatures from citizens pressing both states to do right by salmon and permanently modify their water quality standards to 125% total dissolved gas (TDG) in time for the Spring 2020 out-migration.

As of today, we expect Washington to issue its new rule in December 2019, and Oregon to issue its new rule in January 2020. We will keep you posted on developments.

For now, we want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of this relentless multi-year pressure campaign. Your efforts – our collective efforts – have worked (though there is still much to be done of course!). Together, we’ve steadily ratcheted up spill levels and strengthened this critical lifeline for endangered salmon and steelhead for the next several years while we continue our work with others in the region to restore a freely flowing lower Snake River that saves salmon, saves orca and saves money – in a manner that helps fishing and farming communities across the region. Thank you.

For more information:

NY Times: How Long Before These Salmon Are Gone? ‘Maybe 20 Years’(September 16, 2019)

Daily Kos: Endangered orcas' fate is tied to a series of dams 400 miles inland (September 1, 2019)

CBB: NOAA Releases New 2019 BiOp For Columbia Basin Salmon/Steelhead; Includes Flexible Spill (April 2, 2019)

6. ‘Dammed to Extinction’ documentary gains a national profile with screenings in Washington D.C. and New York City.

Dammed to Extinction, the gripping and evocative documentary, explores the urgent plight of Southern Resident orcas and their need for many more chinook salmon in Northwest coastal waters to survive, reproduce and recover. The film has been accepted by numerous film festivals, including the Anderson Island Film Festival (WA), Gig Harbor Film Festival (WA), Eugene Environmental Film Festival (OR)  EcoFilm Festival (OR) and – most recently – the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York City.

SOS has been working with the film-makers and other partners to host screenings of the film across the Northwest. In October, we also helped screen Dammed to Extinction in Washington D.C. The film-makers and two orca experts from Washington State flew to the nation’s capitol for the screening and a set of meetings with Northwest lawmakers.

Thousands of people have attended screenings this year in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Movie goers already have sent postcards and made phone calls to their senators and governors to urge them to bring people together to craft a plan that restores the lower Snake River by removing its four costly dams and replacing the modest services they provide with alternatives like renewable energy and expanded rail lines.

SOS extends a huge ‘thank you’ to filmmakers Steven Hawley and Michael Peterson for dedicating their talents to produce this timely, moving film. We’ll continue to co-host and promote screenings around region.

If you are interested in hosting a screening or want to share ‘Dammed to Extinction’ with your friends and family, don’t hesitate to reach out to SOS. We’re happy to help. You can look for upcoming screenings here.

Also, DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the film are NOW AVAILABLE for sale at www.dammedtoextinction.com. 

7. Coming to you in early 2020: The court-ordered review of Columbia/Snake River salmon/steelhead recovery options is due for public release in February 2020

Back in 2016 when the U.S. District Court in Portland invalidated the federal government’s last Columbia Basin salmon plan, it ordered a comprehensive review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to examine all credible recovery options – including the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. An initial version of the review is nearing completion and a Draft Report (DEIS) will be released to the public in February, followed by a 45-day comment period. A set of public meetings/hearings are rumored, but details are not yet available.

The upcoming DEIS and comment period is a critical opportunity for people to mobilize and call on the engagement and leadership of Northwest policymakers to work with each other, stakeholders, and Northwest people to craft a lawful, science-based solution that truly protects endangered salmon and steelhead AND invests in Northwest communities and economy. Salmon and orca face extinction today and we desperately need solutions that will work for both fishers and farmers. Restoring the lower Snake River must occur in a manner that brings all of the region’s communities forward together.

When ordered by the court in 2016, the review presented a huge opportunity for the people of the Pacific Northwest – to examine our recovery options and understand the costs and benefits and tradeoffs of restoring a freely flowing lower Snake River – the action that Northwest biologists agree is our best and very likely only option to protect endangered salmon and steelhead populations from extinction.

The three federal agencies managing the federal dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers are the Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Their 25-year track record has been dismal: five consecutive federal plans for protecting Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead from extinction have all been rejected by the courts as inadequate and illegal. The agencies are now working on their 6th effort, while salmon, orca and fishing communities hang in the balance. It is undeniably clear today that the federal agencies will not and cannot resolve the Northwest’s biggest natural resource conflict with their new plan coming in 2020. Northwest people – and salmon and orcas – need the urgent engagement of Northwest governors and Members of Congress working with stakeholders and citizens to craft a lawful, science-based plan that includes restoring the lower Snake River. To get this done, we’ll also need to transition and invest in affected communities to ensure that we all move forward together.

Even if they wanted to, the federal agencies don’t have the mission or authority or charge to deliver a comprehensive solution. This is why we urgently need Northwest leaders stepping in and stepping up – bringing people together to develop a durable plan that protects and restores salmon, and invests in and transitions affected communities.

We need your voice – especially in early 2020 – to call for urgent leadership from our Governors and Members of Congress to bring people together and solve this linked set of problems.

8. Farewell (for now!) to Angela – superstar organizer in our Seattle office!

We want to wish superstar organizer Angela Moran the very best and a huge “thank you” for her amazing contributions to SOS’ work over the past 13 months. We are very sad to see her leave, but excited about her new opportunity – Angela is taking a new position with the Seattle Aquarium as a policy assistant (while she continues to work towards a Masters degree at the University of Washington).

Angela has her fingerprints all over SOS’ organizing, outreach, policy and communications work over the past year. She’s organized numerous screenings of Dammed to Extinction, produced the 2019 Hot Water Report, and assembled newsletters, display and outreach materials. Angela has staffed SOS tabling events, helped fundraise, lobbied in Olympia, talked to reporters, and much more.

We are very grateful for all of your contributions, wish you the very best at the Aquarium, and know that we’ll stay in touch. Thank you Angela! – Joseph, Sam, Carrie and the whole SOS team.

9. ACT TODAY! CALL FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE NORTHWEST TODAY:

The Northwest needs leadership NOW! Contact the governors and congress members of Washington and Oregon and tell them that salmon, orca, and Northwest people need a plan that invests in restoring our iconic species and investing in our local communities!

Have questions? Have ideas? Want to get move involved? Reach out to Carrie today!

2018 has started fast and furious - and it shows no signs of slowing down! SOS staff and allies have been burning the candle at both ends to take advantage of key opportunities we’ve created – and to defend our hard-fought gains. A lot has happened – both good and bad – affecting Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead and their rivers and streams since our last newsletter in March/April. We appreciate your active support for our work. Read this longer-than-usual issue of Wild Salmon & Steelhead to get up to speed and learn how you can help! Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE:

I. HR 3144 – the Salmon Extinction Act – passes the House: what it means and what’s next
II. Bad news - wild salmon and steelhead returns 2018: Recent returns and 2018 pre-season estimates
III. Good news - 2018 Lower Snake River Dams Energy Replacement Study finds replacing the lower Snake dams’ energy services feasible and affordable
IV. From the Inland Northwest: Landscape design students imagine a free-flowing Lewiston (ID) waterfront
V. Governor Inslee (WA) creates Emergency Orca Task Force – increasing prey (chinook salmon) numbers must be the top priority.
VI. Event Report: Phase II of “A Tale of Two Rivers” and the Patagonia film premiere: “Blue Heart”
VII. Save these dates!
-- 6/8/2018 in Portland OR: Celebrate 50 years of the Wild & Scenic Rivers with Sawyer Paddles & Oars and SOS
-- 9/7-9/8/2018 on the Lower Snake River: ‘Free the Snake’ Flotilla and Rally on the River with Winona LaDuke

I. HR 3144 – the Salmon Extinction Act – passes the House of Representatives: what it means and what’s next
On April 25, HR 3144 – a bill that we’ve dubbed the Salmon Extinction Act – passed the House of Representatives roughly along party lines – with eight Democrats voting for and eight Republicans voting against. Introduced by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, 3144 as law would wreak havoc on all sorts of things we care about: salmon and orca, fishing communities, the courts, federal laws including the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act. It would overturn the historic court decision salmon advocates won in 2016, rollback hard-fought protections (increased spill) for at-risk salmon and derail the court-ordered environmental review, including an analysis of lower Snake River dam removal.

Despite this loss in the House – an outcome we anticipated before the vote - with your help, salmon advocates and Northwest policymakers put up a strong fight. Allies in D.C. tell us we did very well, given the makeup of Congress today. Leading up to the vote, we secured the public opposition of Govs. Jay Inslee (WA) and Kate Brown (OR), Sen. Murray and Reps. Adam Smith (WA), Pramila Jayapal (WA) and Earl Blumenauer (OR). We organized hundreds of thousands grassroots contacts to Congressional members from across the country.

Working with allies, we organized a sign-on letter opposing 3144 from business associations and businesses across the West Coast; more than 25 regional and national conservation and fishing organizations sent letters to Congress urging its opposition to the ‘Salmon Extinction Act’.

So what’s next? We can still stop this harmful, backwards bill from going to the White House for Pres. Trump’s signature. As we have done before, we’ll need to work together to block further activity in the House and stop this bill in the Senate.

First the Senate: a version of this bill has been referred to the Environment and Public Works Committee, but it has not been formally introduced (yet!). We know that there is opposition to this bill in the Senate – led by Senator Murray (WA) and – at this time - we are not aware of any champions for this bill. That could change at any time, so we’re staying on-alert and will ask you for your help if this changes. And please let us know if you hear anything!

ACT NOW: Contact your Senators! - Ask them to oppose the "Salmon Extinction Act" and ensure it does not become law.

Second, back in the House, Rep. McMorris Rodgers is also pushing a ‘rider’ on an upcoming appropriations bill. The rider includes just one provision of 3144 – if this rider passes, it will roll back the increased spill to help endangered salmon that the court recently ordered and that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld when the dam agencies challenged it. The spending bill is scheduled for a vote in the Appropriations Committee this week and we're pushing allied Representatives to do all they can to remove this rider before this vote. Here again, successfully striking this bill will be hard given the composition of the House today. But we'll try!

In sum, the battle continues. The Salmon Extinction Act and/or rider would deliver a devastating blow if it becomes law, and we are doing all we can to defend the gains we've made for Columbia/Snake salmon and their rivers. Thank you very much for your attention and your help – Stay tuned!

II. Bad news: wild salmon and steelhead returns 2018: Recent returns and 2018 pre-season estimates
Tom Stuart, SOS Board Chair based in Boise, Idaho, has compiled the most recent adult returns for wild salmon and steelhead returning to the Snake River and its tributaries. In short, it’s bad and getting worse, especially for B-run steelhead. These fish desperately need additional help in the near-term. And given the tightening grip of climate change in combination with the immense harms caused by the federal system of dams and reservoirs, it is impossible to imagine a strategy that protects these irreplaceable wild fish as long as the four lower Snake River dams remain in place. Source: Idaho Fish and Game.
                

And here's a powerful new essay about the magic of - and great peril faced by - B-Run Steelhead - Extinction in the Heart of Idaho - by Pat Ford, former SOS executive director and one of our most dedicated, knowledgeable and articulate advocates for wild salmon and steelhead and their ecosystems.

More troubling evidence re: 2018 returns: the fisheries managers’ Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is forecasting a 2018 fall chinook run in the Columbia River that is 23 percent less than the actual number of fish that returned last year and about one-half of the (already very low) 10-year average.

The TAC is forecasting a fall chinook run in 2018 of 365,600 fish. That’s down from 2017’s actual run of 475,900 fish and far lower than 2017’s forecast of 582,600 fish.

The bottom line: the wild salmon and steelhead of the Columbia and Snake Rivers are in the midst of a new steep decline bringing them perilously close to extinction. By any metric, these irreplaceable fish are in deep trouble – as are the benefits they have delivered each and every year to the people, fish and wildlife, and ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. These fish need more help today, not less. HR 3144 is rightly named the Salmon (and Steelhead) Extinction Act. There is great urgency to act now - to protect and begin to rebuild these imperiled populations and their benefits - by protecting and restoring and reconnecting their river ecosystems.

Links to further resources:

Columbia Basin Bulletin: Harvest Managers Predict 23 Percent Decline In 2018 Fall Chinook Run, One-Half Of 10-Year AverageColumbia Basin Bulletin: Harvest Managers Predict 23 Percent Decline In 2018 Fall Chinook Run, One-Half Of 10-Year Average (March 2018)

Graphs: adult wild salmon and steelhead returns to the Snake River - 1950s - 2017

III. Good news - 2018 Lower Snake River Dams Energy Replacement Study finds replacing the lower Snake dams’ energy services is feasible and affordable
In early April, SOS member organization NW Energy Coalition released its long-awaited analysis examining how we can replace the energy services provided by the lower Snake River dams. This groundbreaking study was conducted by Energy Strategies, a highly-respected energy consulting firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The study finds that we can replace the meager energy services provided by the lower Snake River dams feasibly, affordably, and with little to no additional carbon emissions. In fact, by removing these four costly dams and replacing them with clean renewables like solar and wind, the Northwest region can actually have a more reliable energy system than today. Further, the cost to replace the dams' energy with clean, renewable, salmon-friendly energy (thanks to plummeting prices of wind and solar resources) will amount to little more than one dollar per month per household for an average Northwest energy consumer.

Related, SOS and its member groups recently released the results of a poll of Washington State voters revealing their favorably changing views about wild salmon, orca, clean energy, and lower Snake River dam removal. The poll was very encouraging. A majority of voters support removing the lower Snake River dams to protect salmon from extinction – especially when it is coupled as part of a larger plan to replace the dams’ services (hydro-energy and barge transportation) with alternatives such as wind and solar, and upgraded railways. And the poll also found a majority of Washingtonians surveyed willing to pay as much as $7/month more on their electric bill to protect salmon from extinction.

This study blows up the mythology perpetuated by protectors of a failed status quo - that we must choose between clean, affordable energy and wild salmon and steelhead. This study also comes at a critical time – as the federal agencies are examining salmon recovery options – including dam removal - in the Columbia/Snake Basin's court ordered environmental review.

Here are some links to further information about the study and the poll:

Spokesman Review Guest Opinion: Dam removal study reveals a raft of benefits (May 10, 2018)

SOS press statement on the LSR dam power replacement study(April 2018)

2018 Lower Snake River Dam Power Replacement Study(April 2018) Power Replacement Study - 1-page factsheet(April 2018) Power Replacement Study - 4-page factsheet(April 2018) 2018 Poll of Washington State Voters re: Salmon and Dams – 4-page memo (March 2018)

Spokesman Review: Poll shows Washington voters choose salmon over dams (March 2018)

IV. From the Inland Northwest: Landscape Design Students Imagine a Freeflowing Lewiston Waterfront

Landscape Architecture students with Washington State University (WSU) spent the semester studying the lower Snake River and its dams as part of a project to re-design the waterfront for the city of Lewiston, Idaho if/when the dams are removed. They toured the river, met with stakeholders and researched the impacts to Lewiston, ID if the dams remain or are removed.

Students’ designs were unveiled at a recent reception at the Lewiston City library, where the public was invited to take a look and listen to students discuss their design choices. All the students chose designs that re-imagined a free-flowing a river with the lower Snake River dams removed and focused on re-connecting the City of Lewiston to its river confluence where the Snake joins the Clearwater, currently cut off from the downtown by levees.

Designs ranged from a focus on urban development with shops, public walkways, to enhanced recreation access for boating, swimming and walking, to ecological restoration of the riparian area. All emphasized re-connecting people and the downtown core to the river.

Among the 40 people who came to view the designs and meet the students were many long-time residents of the Lewiston who shared fond memories of when the river was natural and free-flowing, before water was impounded behind dams and the Snake became more lake than river. They told stories of swimming at the beautiful beaches along the river and waterskiing during the lunch hour. They lamented that people who moved here after 1976 did not have firsthand knowledge of what has been lost.

The designs offer a starting point for a new conversation in Lewiston on what the waterfront can offer to the local economy and quality of life. Some residents in Lewiston want the dams to stay, but many people feel it is past time for a community conversation about dams going vs. staying, and the costs and benefits at stake. The designs make a strong argument for choosing a river over a reservoir. The exhibit is open to the public through the end of June at the downtown library. Stop in and take a look.

Read the Lewiston Morning Tribune story by Eric Barker.

V. Governor Inslee (WA) creates Emergency Orca Task Force – increasing prey (chinook salmon) supply must be top priority

In mid-March, Joseph Bogaard (SOS) and other members of the Orca Salmon Alliance joined Governor Inslee and many others as he formally announced the creation of an Emergency Orca Task Force to address the urgent plight of critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales – or orcas. The Southern Residents were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2006.

Despite this “protection” the population has continued to decline. Today it is at a 30-year low – just 76 members of this unique community remain. Toxins and vessel noise are contributing problems, but the most urgent cause of decline is lack of food – namely chinook salmon which make up at least 80% of their diet. Protecting orca from extinction must focus effective near-term actions that will protect and restore salmon and their ecosystems, including in the Columbia-Snake Basin where the large, once highly salmon-productive basin still has tremendous chinook restoration potential – if we protect, restore and reconnect the rivers and streams they need. Increased spill is our most effective near-term action to increase salmon populations; dam removal will be far more beneficial of course, but require several years to plan and execute.

The Task Force is the first of its kind to address declining orca numbers. It represents a tremendous opportunity to tackle big problems that we have long known existed, but it is important to remember that the Task Force will only succeed with relentless public attention and pressure demanding science-based action and bold political leadership. There is little mystery about what needs to be done to meet the needs of orca; it is truly a question of whether we have the political will to act. The Task Force and the Governor must both move forward with great urgency and with a commitment to actions and measures that protect and restore resilient habitats, ecosystem function and connectivity. Especially in the face of a changing climate, we must increase our faith in nature and rely less on the types of technology-centered strategies that have put us, salmon and orca in the fix we’re in.

The Task Force first met on May 1. There are three working groups for prey, toxins and vessel interference. The Task Force is charged with delivering action recommendations to the Governor by October 2018. Fortunately, a good number of SOS leaders and allies have been invited to join the Task Force and its working groups. We have a lot of work ahead.

ACT NOW (for Washington State residents): Contact Gov. Inslee - ask for his support for more spill now at the Columbia and Snake River dams!

Here are several links to media coverage and the Governor’s Task Force webpage with further information, including the Task Force Executive Order and members, and a recent letter from the Orca Salmon Alliance that SOS contributed to.

Governor Inslee's Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task ForceKING5: Orca Protection Order signed by Inslee(May 1, 2018)

Orca Salmon Alliance letter to Governor Inslee and the members of the Orca Task Force (May 1, 2018)

VI. Event Report: Phase II of “A Tale of Two Rivers” and a Patagonia premiere of “Blue Heart”
In late April, SOS had the honor of partnering a second time with Lynda Mapes (Seattle Times), Rocky Barker (Idaho Statesman) and Jeff Renner (retired, KING5) for a second set of ‘A Tale of Two Rivers’ presentations – this time in Olympia (WA) and Portland (OR). Once again, the conversation focused on the amazing Elwha River/ecosystem restoration success story. The world’s largest dam removal (to date) was completed five years ago and this ecosystem, its fish and wildlife and nearby human communities have been in restoration mode ever since. This speaker series also focused in on the fast changing dynamics on the lower Snake River and escalating pressure to restore this river and its wild salmon and steelhead by removing its four deadbeat dams.

Later this spring we’ll release an hour-long video file of our inaugural discussion in Seattle back in January, in case you’d like to see the discussion. Stay tuned.

SOS was also honored to join Patagonia staff in Seattle on May 10 for the premiere of Blue Heart – a powerful, troubling and inspiring new film produced by Patagonia spotlighting the people’s campaigns in the Balkan region of southeast Europe to resist an onslaught of dam-building projects. Nearly 3000 projects are being planned and/or underway thanks to an unholy alliance of banks, dam builders and pliable politicians.
Learn more about saving the Blue Heart of Europe – including a 2-minute trailer and screening schedule.

A huge shout-out to Yvon Chouinard and the amazing people at Patagonia for their tremendous leadership to spotlight and support critical environmental battles and priorities in the United States and around the world.

VII. Save these dates! Mark your calendars!

6/8/2018: Celebrate ‘50 years of the 'Wild & Scenic Rivers Act’ with ‘Sawyer Paddles and Oars’ – in a benefit for SOS!

Sawyer Paddles and Oars has teamed up with SOS in 2018 to promote healthy, resilient native fish and rivers in the Northwest. Sawyer is featuring limited edition oars with beautiful artwork from Link Jackson, Ty Hallock and other artists. Every sale benefits SOS.

We’re also co-hosting a celebration of 50 years of Wild & Scenic Rivers in America – with a fun, public event in Portland (OR) on the evening of June 8 – featuring Hank Patterson as the evening’s emcee, films from Shane Anderson, food and refreshments, and an auction with art, trips, gear, and more!

For further information:

FB event page: Celebrate ‘50 years of Wild & Scenic Rivers’ with ‘Sawyer Paddles and Oars' -- June 8

Sawyer Paddles and Oars Artisan Squaretop Oars featuring America's native fish

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9/7-9/8/2018: 4th Annual Rally and Flotilla to ‘Free the Snake’ with Winona LaDuke.

Hundreds of salmon, steelhead, orca, river and treaty rights advocates will gather on the river for our 4th Annual Rally to 'Free the Snake!' on September 7 and 8 this year. Thanks to Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, this year we'll have a very special guest: Winona LaDuke.

The founder of Honor the Earth, Winona LaDuke is a leading indigenous rights activist from the Ojibwa Nation in Minnesota. She has spent her life rebuilding indigenous communities and fighting against pipelines and other dirty energy projects for more than 30 years.

Join us for our 4th Annual Rally on the River – for food, camping, speakers, live music - and to join forces with others in support of restoring the lower Snake River and its endangered wild salmon and steelhead.

Find more information here: FreeTheSnake.com or contact jacob@wildsalmon.org

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today. Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams salmon depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and fishable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Carrie Herrman.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Restoring the Snake River and its salmon is about social justice
2. Tribes work to bring salmon home to the Upper Columbia River Basin
3. 'Wild Salmon Webinar Series' - Join us Thursday - April 15 at 6 pm PT!
4. 'Dam Removal Success Stories 2021' - Restoring the Elwha River - #3 in a 5-part series
5. An interview with Northwest artist Lisa Gilley
6. Shout-out for a pro-salmon business - Lark Restaurant
 (Seattle, WA)

1. Restoring the Snake River and its salmon is about social justice

Removing the four lower Snake River dams will restore the Snake River along with its iconic creatures – including its wild salmon, steelhead, and lamprey. Indeed, it is our single best opportunity to restore abundant salmon runs anywhere on the West Coast. It will benefit struggling sport, commercial, and tribal fishing economies and communities, and is an essential piece of the puzzle for saving critically endangered Southern Resident orcas who desperately need more chinook salmon in order to survive and rebuild their population.

Restoring the once-abundant salmon runs of the Snake River is also fundamentally about keeping faith with the treaties our nation signed more than 150 years ago with Northwest tribes. We must honor our commitments to the tribes and break the long-standing cycle of neglect and failure. Recently, eleven Northwest tribal leaders called on Congress and President Biden to uphold the federal government’s commitment to tribes and save salmon by removing the lower Snake River dams. These leaders wrote “Salmon are inseparable from who we are...Even as our ancestors’ lives and homelands were threatened, they made sure to protect within the treaties our ancestral salmon lifeway. Those treaties were promises made by the United States Government. Those promises must be kept.”

In early February 2021, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) unveiled a groundbreaking proposalto restore the lower Snake River and make comprehensive and strategic investments to assure the Northwest's energy system, farms, and local communities remain strong and vibrant.

In response to this proposal, Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Delano Saluskin said, “We have reached a tipping point where we must choose between our Treaty-protected salmon and the federal dams. And we choose salmon.” Sharing a similar sentiment, Chairman Shannon Wheeler of the Nez Perce Tribe commented, “We view restoring the lower Snake River – a living being to us, and one that is injured – as urgent and overdue. Congressman Simpson, in focusing on the facts and on a solution speaks the truth – that restoring salmon and the lower Snake River can also reunite and strengthen regional communities and economies.”

For many, the restoration of the Snake River is a social justice issue. A recent letter from the Washington Black Lives Matter Steering Committee sent to the Washington congressional delegation made a powerful statement of solidarity with the tribes noting that “restoring salmon is a human rights issue.” They further stated, “In the same way we as Black people have heard from elected leaders that they need more time to act on racial justice, Indigenous people have heard ‘we need more time’ to prevent the salmon extinction. In his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, ‘Wait has almost always meant “Never.”’”

SOS believes we must restore the Snake River and its salmon and stand in solidarity with the tribes. Passing on this natural heritage of resilient rivers and healthy fish and wildlife to future generations is part of our responsibility as well.

Representative Simpson’s proposal provides a solid foundation to restore the salmon, honor tribal communities, and make investments to both address the impacts of removal and ensure the future of the Northwest. His proposal is not perfect. It has holes that need to be filled, and changes and improvements to some parts. But it has the right comprehensive framework. What is missing right now is leadership from the Washington congressional delegation.

We have the most powerful congressional delegation since the storied days of Scoop Jackson and Warren Magnuson. Our salmon and orca need urgent action today or we will lose them. Senator Maria Cantwell is Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and Senator Murray is in Senate leadership and serves on the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Kilmer serves on the House Appropriations Committee with Rep. Simpson. Right now, our delegation has the positions and clout to work with Rep. Simpson and other Congressional members to shape the kind of legislative package that is needed. Northwest tribes deserve our legislators' best effort and support. Future generations are counting on us to do our jobs – now.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: If you live in the Pacific Northwest (OR, WA, AK, ID, MT), please use this link to ask your Senators and House member to step forward, seize this opportunity and work with others to develop a comprehensive solution that works for salmon, orca, tribes – and all of us.

And, regardless of where you call home, please sign this petition to the Biden Administration to support a comprehensive solution to restore Northwest salmon, uphold our responsibilities to Northwest Tribes, and invest in the region's communities and infrastructure.

Thank you.

For further information:

Tribal Leaders Letter Calls on Congress and President Biden to Honor the Treaties Made with Northwest Tribes (March 18, 2021)

Letter from the Yakama Nation to Oregon and Washington State Senators expressing its strong support for Congressman Simpson’s proposal. (March 9, 2021)

Seattle Times: Salmon People: A tribe’s decades-long fight to take down the Lower Snake River dams and restore a way of life. (Nov. 29, 2020)

2. Tribes work to bring salmon home to the Upper Columbia River Basin

Thanks to hard work by the Upper Columbia United Tribes, salmon are returning to streams empty of fish for nearly a century.    Dams constructed in the 1930s and '40s without fish ladders extirpated once-abundant salmon fisheries important to Tribes in the upper Columbia Basin. It is estimated that historically the upper Columbia River Tribes caught more than 644,000 fish every year, sustaining a people and culture built around wild salmon and healthy rivers.  Built in 1910, Little Falls dam blocked the famed chinook salmon—known as “June Hogs” because of their enormous size—from returning to the Spokane River and its tributaries. The "hogs" could exceed 5 feet in length and often weighed more than 100 pounds. Plentiful steelhead populations were also decimated.  Today, passage is blocked further downstream on the Columbia River - at the Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.    Despite these obstacles newly hatched salmon were found in Tshimakain Creek this spring, a tributary of the Spokane River, the offspring of 750 yearling Chinook placed up above the dams last year by the Spokane Tribe. The baby salmon are the result of a reintroduction project lead by the Spokane Tribe. The first phase looked at available habitat and carrying capacity in Upper Columbia tributaries. The second phase has involved planting salmon in streams and monitoring survivability and the number of redds (the in-river 'nest' where a female salmon lays her eggs).    Studies have determined that there are 711 miles of habitat for Spring Chinook and 1610 miles for summer steelhead in the Upper Columbia basin—if fish can access it. There are challenges to solving that problem, including dams without passage and the size and length of Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee. But the Tribes are determined to overcome these obstacles - and have made impressive progress in recent years. Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson’s Northwest in Transition proposal to restore salmon to Idaho by removing the four lower Snake River dams and investing in infrastructure and communities includes a $700 million fund to assist in returning salmon above blocked areas in the Columbia Basin. We hope that Senators Murray and Cantwell will work urgently with others to develop and advance a comprehensive solution to our Columbia basin salmon crisis that removes the Snake River dams to restore salmon to the Columbia’s largest tributary, and support the hard work of the Spokane, Colville, and other Upper Tribes to bring salmon back to the Upper Columbia.    For more information check out this article in the Spokesman-Review.

3. 'Wild Salmon Webinar Series' - Join us Thursday - April 15 at 6 pm PT!

Join us for the last installment of our online speaker series (via zoom) on April 15 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm PT - 'Dam Removal Success Stories - Rivers Restored and Lessons Learned'. With guest speakers Shawn Cantrell (Defenders of Wildlife) and Serena McClain (American Rivers).

Here's a link to our Facebook event page - for further information and to share with your networks!

For more information about our third and final webinar this spring, visit here.

You can RSVP here!

If you missed our first two webinars in our spring series, don’t worry! We’ve got recordings! You can find them on our YouTube channel.

Have questions? Reach out to carrie@wildsalmon.org

4. 'Dam Removal Success Stories 2021' - Restoring the Elwha River - #3 in a 5-part series

This spring, Save Our Wild Salmon and American Rivers are teaming up for a 5-part series spotlighting dam removal success stories from across the Northwest and the nation. These short, informal ‘case studies’ take a close look at recent dam removal projects and explore some of these projects’ economic, community, ecological, and social justice outcomes.

All of the stories share themes of renewal, opportunity, and benefit. Dam removal projects frequently start with a struggle over values and visions. In a successful case, this is followed by conflict resolution and collaboration. Persistence is required in nearly all cases, but the payoff is high. River restoration projects - 69 dams were removed across the United States just in 2020! - invariably deliver significant benefits to communities, economies, and ecosystems - and have transformed many a skeptic to supporter.

Restoring the Elwha River:The third story in our series focuses on the Elwha River, which flows from the Olympic National Park in Washington State into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In 2011, the federal government and partners led the deconstruction of the Glines Canyon Dam and the Elwha Dam, providing new access to 70 miles of pristine spawning grounds and fish habitat. After ten years of a free-flowing river, fish populations venture upstream and spawn in previously inaccessible habitats. Other wildlife, including bears, cougars, mink, otters, and even America’s only aquatic songbird, the American dipper, are also returning to the area. Once blocked by the dams, huge amounts of sediment have moved downriver, creating 70 acres of estuary habitat that is home to sardines, anchovies, crabs, shrimp, gulls, and other birds. 
 
While extensive restoration work remains to be done, recovery trends are encouraging. “The story of the Elwha is: We can do it. We can overcome a century of harm. We can work together. We can restore a river. We can show our grandchildren what commitment, responsibility, and stewardship look like. We can be the beneficiaries of an abundance of riches that flow from a river that runs free,” said Bob Irvin, President of American Rivers.

Read our full story about the Elwha River.

Look for our fourth “success story” next month, spotlighting the Patapsco River in central Maryland!

5. An interview with Northwest artist Lisa Gilley

Artist Lisa Gilley has spent her entire life on or near the water, be that a salty ocean or salmon-bearing streams. Growing up in Mt. Vernon, WA on a farm – Lisa’s family was the first to grow marionberries in the Skagit River Valley – gave her an appreciation of hard work, open spaces, and the places where we can meet nature up close and personal. It also gave her an appreciation for the quality of light and how it changes throughout the day. Ask Lisa and she will tell you she paints the light and the landscapes follow.

Your work is magnificent with its large-scale, sweeping views. Why do you paint landscapes?

I've been a landscape painter for many years. Landscapes fulfill something deep inside me. It’s my way of telling a story about a place that matters. I want to make a difference in the world through my art. My work offers a place to start a conversation about the places I paint. Some may think that landscape paintings are naive in today's art world but I think people need something familiar in order to grasp bigger issues.

It’s true. Grounding people in a common interest or goal can connect strangers. Can you offer an example of how your landscapes draw people into conversations?

I don't supply a narrative with my work but discussions find their way to the table. The landscapes I chose to paint are rare and beautiful places—and endangered, much like the salmon that Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson is trying to save with his comprehensive proposal. People standing in front of my work want to know where these places are and that is how the discussion begins. The paintings offer an entry point and common ground to start talking about stewardship and issues like pollution, dams, and global warming. It doesn't matter whether or not the person is a conservative or a liberal because in that particular moment they realized we share the same interest - a landscape, a river, salmon, and steelhead. Some call it a ‘soft sell.’ I like to think of it as planting the seed.

Recently, I saw a painting you did of the Salmon River. How did you choose to paint that location?

My husband Chris and I love to fly fish. In 2015, I started a new body of work called Chasing the Snake that documents the Snake River. Over the years I have traveled, fished, and documented the river, its canyons, and its tributaries in Washington and Oregon. My plan is to continue the travel, fish, and paint the Snake River all the way to its source in the Tetons. This is all in an attempt to keep alive the conversation around this river and its needs.

Can you offer us an idea of the scale of the Snake River?

Historically Lewis and Clark navigated this river. The Snake River is the 13th largest river in the United States and its watershed is the 10th largest in North America. Its headwaters are just inside Yellowstone National Park. From there it runs through Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, and Washington. The Snake River is the largest tributary to the Columbia River. The mighty river runs through many protected areas including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National and Park, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. We need to help preserve the sections that are still wild and free-flowing. And, of course, we need to restore the 140 mile stretch in southeast Washington!

What are some of the challenges that face the Snake River where it isn’t protected as part of a national park or national recreation area?

The Snake River is one of the most controversial rivers in the United States. The lower four Snake River dams are barriers to fish passage. The Shoshone and Nez Perce were once able to feed their families from the waters of the Snake. Today, one out of every two juvenile salmon is killed while migrating to the ocean because they can't survive the hydropower system and the warming waters of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Growing up on a farm gives me an appreciation for the needs of the farmers in eastern Washington. I also worked as a deckhand on a salmon boat out of La Conner (WA) in my teens and twenties. If we brought the farmers and fishermen together they would find that they have a lot in common. We need leadership that can help make that happen before we lose the wild fish of the Snake River.

How can people do their part to help the Snake River and its salmon and steelhead?

Get out there and enjoy the River! Experience how wonderful and awe-inspiring it is from every angle. Once you have seen it you will have no doubt what to say when people ask you why you care. Tell your neighbors and friends about your amazing family trip to the Snake River. You will spark their imagination. The most important and urgent thing is to engage our elected officials in conversation and ask for their leadership in saving this last stronghold for our wild salmon and steelhead. Call them, write to them, and send a picture of you knee-deep in the water of the Snake River. A picture is worth a thousand words.

* * *

You can learn more about Lisa Gilley and her art on her website (www.lisagilley.com) and by following her on Instagram (@lisa_gilley). The Woodside Braseth Gallery in Seattle represents Lisa Gilley and her art: www.woodsidebrasethgallery.com

6. Shout-out for a pro-salmon business - Lark Restaurant
 (Seattle, WA)

Each month, Save Our Wild Salmon likes to spotlight a business that supports healthy lands, waters, and fish and wildlife - and healthy foods! This month it is Lark- a restaurant in Seattle, WA.

In 2003, Chef John Sundstrom opened Lark with J.M. Enos and Kelly Ronan. Located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, Lark's menu features small plates of locally produced and organic foods including cheese, charcuterie, vegetables, grains, meats, and fish. Chef Sundstrom has long been a leader in the ‘eat local’ food movement and for decades he has served the concept to Seattle eaters one dish at a time.

The local food movement has changed the way people eat and the way chefs create their menus. With examples of locally sourced food items found throughout the Lark menu, it reads like a map of the Pacific Northwest. Grains like emmer farro and rye from Bluebird Grains Farm in Winthrop, WA will find their way into salads or substituted for rice in a signature risotto. Lark serves house-made bread that starts with flour from Smalls Family Farm in Walla Walla, WA. Menu items change based on what the seasons have to offer such as fresh halibut from Neah Bay. Come the beginning of May wild salmon from the Washington coast will grace Lark’s menu.

Washington salmon has a friend in Chef Sundstrom. Lark has served as the venue for all 16 of the annual Washington Salmon Lunches that have been co-hosted by the Coastal Trollers Association and the Makah Tribe. The lunch brings chefs and food writers together with members of the Makah Tribe and commercial fishermen that fish out of Neah Bay, WA. Part celebration for the return of salmon and part educational opportunity, guests enjoy a salmon lunch while learning the role of salmon for tribal traditions and as an economic driver for coastal economies.

Each year a different expert on salmon will act as keynote speaker at the lunch. With a roundtable format for conversation, the chefs and media learn the important role they can play as stewards to salmon and the river habitat that salmon need. With 60 to 70 guests in attendance, salmon knowledge is shared along with a delectable salmon lunch prepared and served with care by the talented Lark crew.

Had it not been for the emergence of COVID-19, May of 2020 would have marked the 17th Annual Washington Salmon Lunch at Lark and May of 2021 the 18th lunch. It is with great expectations chefs and food professionals await the time when they can all gather together again over lunch at Lark and recognizer the importance of wild salmon to the economy, culture, and ecology of the Pacific Northwest. And when the time comes Chef Sundstrom will be ready to prepare another memorable meal with Washington salmon in the center of the plate.

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is produced by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to the people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today. Learn about our campaign to restore health, connectivity and resilience to the rivers and streams they depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin, and how you can get involved help protect and restore healthy, abundant and fishable populations.

Contact Carrie if you have questions or to discuss how to get more involved.

NOTE: Our 2020 work at SOS started off fast and furious. Before the arrival of COVID-19 pandemic, we were hard at work participating in Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee’s public meetings as part of his Lower Snake River Stakeholder process, reacting to Gov. Kate Brown’s letter to Inslee re: Snake River salmon recovery and the need for Northwest solutions; and preparing for the release of the federal government’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Columbia-Snake salmon and dams and the public comment period now underway. More on all of these priorities below.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1.  On the Coronavirus
2.  SOS Action Alert – Submit your comments to the federal government and Northwest policymakers re: the shortcomings of the 2020 Snake-Columbia Salmon Draft EIS - and need for a comprehensive Northwest solution
3.  About the Snake-Columbia River Salmon Draft EIS
     A. Why the DEIS fails and what we need to replace it
     B. Public Comment in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: No public hearings. No extended comment deadline.
     C. Emerging Northwest stakeholder and policymaker leadership
4. Other news and developments
     A. Predicted Columbia and Snake river salmon and steelhead returns
     B. Governor Inslee releases Washington State’s Final Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Forum Report

1. A few thoughts on the Coronavirus
The pandemic is now in full stride moving across the United States and the planet. A top priority for Save Our wild Salmon at this time is to ensure the health and safety of our staff, partners, supporters and communities. As we do our part to ‘flatten the curve’ and slow the infection rate, SOS staff is continuing to work – but we are at home, sheltering in place and following the guidance of local health experts and elected officials. This is a very difficult time for everyone – we’re out of our normal routines, our interactions with others are limited – and increasingly mediated by phones and the internet. It is disorienting, unsettling, and uncertain. We, our families and friends and communities face an unprecedented health emergency. The information and circumstances and best practices keep changing. At this difficult time, we hope that you and yours are well and that you are able hunker down with your loved ones and be safe.

2. SOS' Snake-Columbia Salmon and Dams Draft EIS Action Alert: Send your comments to the federal agencies and Northwest policymakers today!
The Snake-Columbia Draft Environmental Impact Statement comment deadline is April 13. Read on below to learn a lot more about the federal government’s inadequate roadmap for managing the federal hydrosystem for salmon recovery, but PLEASE ACT NOWto speak up for salmon, orca, fishing and others communities. SOS is collecting signatures and will deliver them to the federal agencies and the elected officials in the Pacific Northwest who are needed to bring people together and lead us toward real, lasting, science-based solutions for everyone involved – including a restored lower Snake River!

3. About the Snake-Columbia Salmon & Dams Draft EIS:
A. Why the federal government’s “new” salmon plan for Columbia Basin salmon and dams fails salmon, orca and communities - and what we need to replace it.
The federal government’s “new” roadmap (Columbia River System Operations Draft Environmental Impact Statement – or CRSO DEIS) for protecting and recovering endangered Snake and Columbia river salmon and steelhead – and the irreplaceable benefits they bring to people and ecosystems – was released on Feb. 28. It disappoints but does not surprise: this latest effort recommends at best modest tweaks to an approach that has failed Snake and Columbia river salmon and Northwest communities for more than two decades. Calls for “a major overhaul” dating back to the 1990s from the courts, salmon and fishing advocates, Tribes, scientists and many others continue to go unheeded.

Northwest people and taxpayers have spent $17B on Columbia-Snake salmon recovery efforts; the U.S. District Court in Portland has rejected five consecutive federal plans; we have not recovered a single salmon population and today, salmon returns are among some of the lowest on record today. Salmon and steelhead and the people and businesses of the Pacific Northwest urgently need a dramatically new approach.

Even if the federal agencies – BPA, Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation – wanted to step up and develop a comprehensive solution that finally and truly addresses this salmon/community crisis, they don’t have the mission or the authorities to do so. The comprehensive solution that Northwest salmon and people need requires big changes and the engagement and leadership of our elected officials. Without political leadership, the costs, pain, losses, and uncertainty of the status quo will persist and very likely escalate.

The long-term comprehensive solution salmon and people need must:

• Restore abundant, fishable salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia Basin
• Protect and invest in the economic vitality of local farming and fishing communities
• Continue the region’s legacy of providing reliable, affordable, clean energy, and,
• Honor our nation’s treaty commitments to Native American Tribes and cultures.

But the agencies can’t do this. This requires Northwest people working together with the support and active leadership of Northwest elected officials. And there's encouraging news on this front. We’re beginning to see the requisite political leadership emerge – with, for example, Rep. Mike Simpson, Gov. Kate Brown and Gov. Inslee (see links to further information below). And we’re seeing stakeholders fed up with the status quo beginning to talk and work together about new approaches and solutions that can bring everyone forward together.

But we still need more – constructive, urgent engagement by policymakers, stakeholders and sovereigns.

You can help by calling and writing your Governor and members of Congress. Click HERE for their numbers and suggested messages.

And here are some links to further information on the “new” DEIS, the public comment period and emerging political and stakeholder leadership:

- SOS Factsheet #1 on the DEIS’ shortcomings.

- SOS' 'Speak Up for Salmon' Resource Page re: 2020 Snake-Columbia salmon Draft EIS

- Nez Perce Tribe Press Release calling for leadership on lower Snake River restoration and accurate, complete, and transparent information on impacts of four lower Snake River Dams

B. Public Comment during the COVID-19 pandemic? No public hearings. No extended comment deadline.
On Feb. 28, the federal government released its 8,000 page Draft EIS and opened a 45-day public comment period. The shortest that is legally allowed. Under pressure, the agencies eventually canceled six regional public meetings and replaced them with call-in opportunities. But that is the only change the agencies have made to the DEIS public comment process. In the face of an unprecedented pandemic requiring unimaginable risks and disruption, the federal government has refused to extend the comment deadline or postpone and reschedule the public hearings.

SOS led the charge in March – organizing three separate NGO sign-on letters addressed to the federal agencies and appealing to them to modify and extend the public comment period in response to the COVID pandemic. The issues at the heart of the DEIS - salmon and orca extinction, and the health and future of Tribal and non-tribal communities - are too important and the implications too great to senselessly rush this process. To date, we have not heard back from the agencies in response to our three letters. At this time, we expect the public comment period to close, as originally scheduled in just two weeks - April 13.

- Read the three sign-on letters requesting additional time and rescheduling of the public hearings here: March 5, March 11 and March 17.

- Read this March 22 editorial from the Everett Herald echoing the Save Our wild Salmon's call to extend public comment period:
Everett Herald Editorial: Extend opportunity to comment on Snake River dams

C. Emerging Northwest stakeholder and policymaker leadership
In contrast to a stubborn, cynical and short-sighted federal government, there are signs of hope in the Northwest - emerging stakeholder and policymaker leadership and support for a new, collaborative way forward for salmon and communities. Below find links to some recent letters, articles and guest opinions in Northwest newspapers reflecting growing momentum from Northwest stakeholders and political leaders calling and pushing for a new approach and a comprehensive solution for salmon and communities.

We aremaking progress - see the links below - but more is urgently needed.

- Lewiston Morning Tribune (ID): Simpson offers critical remarks on river study Idaho congressman says federal government’s draft EIS doesn’t do enough for salmon and steelhead (March 11)

- On February 11, Gov. Kate Brown (OR) sent a letter to Gov. Inslee (WA) offering her help and seeking his partnership in support of comprehensive, collaborative regional solutions, including the restoration of the lower Snake River through dam removal.

On Feb. 24, Save Our wild Salmon's Joseph Bogaard co-signed a letter from 17 leaders from utilities, conservation organizations and a port to the four Northwest governorsletter calling for an inclusive regionally-led effort to develop a plan that recovers salmon, invests in communities, supports an affordable, reliable energy system and upholds our nation's tribal treaty responsibilities.

On March 13, in the Statesman Journal (OR) - a guest opinion by farmer and fishing guide Grant Putnam: Bring our salmon back, make our energy clean and affordable, and strengthen communities.

On March 14, in the Register Guard (OR) - a guest opinion by Chris Daughters: Leadership casting for a brighter future.

On March 15, 12 central Idaho community leaders sent a letter to Gov. Little and Idaho Congressional delegation members urging swift action to recover salmon and steelhead populations that are critical to their economies. Read about it here in the Idaho Statesman.

On March 23, in the Spokesman Review (WA) - a guest opinion by Joseph Bogaard (SOS) and Chad Jensen (Inland Power and Light): Snake River decision must provide solutions for all sides.

4. Other important developments:
A. Predicted 2020 Columbia and Snake river salmon and steelhead returns - another grim year.
As if we need any new reminders about the urgent need for action and grim state of affairs today for endangered wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Snake and Columbia rivers, here are some links to information from fisheries managers in Washington and Oregon re: predicted fish returns in 2020.

Ironically - or tragically - on the same day (Feb. 28) that the federal government released its indisputably inadequate Draft EIS, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife released its predictions for adult returns for Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead in 2020: "Fishery managers say the coming year may be another tough one for anglers in Washington, with low salmon returns expected again in 2020...still well below the most recent 10-year average...a sharp decrease from the 2019 forecast...salmon fisheries will likely be more constrained than last year."

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife: Salmon forecasts released as salmon season-setting process gets underway for 2020 (Feb. 2020)

Oregon Department of Fish and Game: 2019 Adult Returns and 2020 Expectations Columbia River (Jan 2020)

B. Governor Inslee releases Washington State’s Final Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Forum Report
In early March, though largely lost amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Inslee released the final report for the Washington State Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Process. The final report looks very similar to the Draft version from December. Notably, there is a little more attention paid to the economic communities - sport and commercial fishing businesses on the coast and inland that have made big sacrifices over time in terms of fishing opportunity, business activity, lost income and jobs in order to help meet conservation goals and reverse declining salmon and steelhead populations. No other communities - save Northwest Tribal communities of course - have made such dramatic sacrifices over time. SOS and its conservation and fishing member groups appreciate the increased attention to these communities and their sacrifices in recent decades.

SOS also greatly appreciates the Washington State legislature for providing full funding for the LSR stakeholder process in the 2019 legislative session and to Governor Inslee and his team for effective implementation of the process in Year 1. The 90+ interviews, the three public meetings, and the Final Report all demonstrate the Washington and Northwest citizens are able and interested in discussing difficult topics - like the fate of the lower Snake River dams - and exploring together possible solutions that will recover endangered salmon and steelhead populations AND take care of and invest in important, affected communities at the same time.

Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published by the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. Read on to learn about the Columbia-Snake River Basin’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead, the many benefits they deliver to people and ecosystems, and the extinction crisis they face today. Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams salmon depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and fishable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Carrie Herrman.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Finally! Senator Murray and Governor Inslee plant their stakes re: the LSR and the urgent need for a comprehensive solution for salmon and communities
2. Nez Perce Tribe’s new ‘extinction assessment’: Urgent action needed to prevent endangered populations from entering extinction vortex
3. New economic assessment finds that 'Simpson proposal' would create 20K jobs
4. “Lostine River - NE Oregon”: a new video from Pacific Rivers spotlights unlikely partners working together to restore endangered chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin
5. Southern Resident orca ad campaign in Washington State calls on Sens. Murray and Cantwell’s leadership
6. Dam Removal Success Stories 2021: Fourth in a Series – Restoring the Patapsco River
7. Shout-out to Jen McLuen and J-POD PRINTS

1. Finally! Senator Murray and Governor Inslee plant their stakes re: the LSR and the urgent need for a comprehensive solution for salmon and communities

May has been a very active month for the Snake River and its salmon.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and its two U.S. Senators – Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell – have finally weighed in publicly on Rep. Simpson’s transformative proposal– more than three months after he unveiled it and invited feedback.

Unfortunately, they’re opposed to the Simpson proposal and do not believe it "can be included in the proposed federal infrastructure package.” Needless to say, Washington State’s powerful senators will have a lot of influence on the multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill that is now taking shape in Washington D.C.

As you’ll recall, in February Rep. Simpson unveiled a visionary concept to protect and restore critically endangered salmon and steelhead populations by removing four deadly dams on the lower Snake River and making major investments in Northwest communities and energy/transportation infrastructure. His stated goals include solving problems, meeting needs, providing greater certainty and encouraging less conflict and more collaboration. All good outcomes that everyone can and should support.

Salmon, orca and fishing advocates across the Northwest and beyond are very grateful for Rep. Simpson’s courageous and visionary leadership to disrupt a costly and painful status quo that has been harming salmon and communities for a very long time. After three decades, five illegal federal plans, $18B in (mis)spending, wild salmon and steelhead are heading toward extinction. Committed, active political leadership - and a dramatically new approach - is urgently needed. There's no time to waste!

With his proposal – and to his great credit - Mr. Simpson has spurred a desperately needed conversation about the future of the Pacific Northwest: our identity, values, culture, economy and environment. More pointedly – about whether we will stubbornly resist making some adjustments in how we live and do business in order to prevent wild salmon and steelhead – and the irreplaceable benefits they bring - from disappearing forever. This is an especially poignant and existential question for Native American Tribes – the Salmon People of the Northwest – as well as for the criticially endangered Southern Resident orcas that rely mainly on chinook salmon for their food and survival.

There is also a real opportunity in last week's announcement from Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee. Their joint statement from May 14 acknowledges that “[r]egional collaboration on a comprehensive, long-term solution to protect and bring back salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and throughout the Pacific Northwest is needed now more than ever.”

They further declare that “[a]ny solution must honor Tribal Treaty Rights; ensure reliable transportation and use of the river; ensure ongoing access for our region’s fishermen and sportsmen, guarantee Washington farmers remain competitive and are able to get Washington state farm products to market; and deliver reliable, affordable, and clean energy for families and businesses across the region.”

And they conclude with “[w]e are ready to work with our Northwest Tribes, states, and all the communities that rely on the river system to achieve a solution promptly. We, too, want action and a resolution that restores salmon runs and works for all the stakeholders and communities in the Columbia River Basin.”

Setting aside the fact that their statement sure sounds a lot like what Rep. Simpson has been saying for months, Gov. Inslee and Sen. Murray have now planted their stake in the ground. They’ve made a commitment to bring people together, honor Tribal Treaty Rights, meet community needs, to restore salmon – all on an urgent timeline.

Disappointingly, Sen. Cantwell made clear that protecting Snake River salmon from extinction is not a priority. She opposes Simpson’s effort and has declined to support the initiative put forth by Murray and Inslee. Instead, she’s announced her focus on Puget Sound salmon recovery. While restoring salmon in the Puget Sound Basin is very important, her dismissal of critically endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia-Snake Basin is deeply disappointing. Restoring these populations is essential to Tribes, river communities, recreation and a way of life east of the Cascade Mountains. She needs to hear from constituents that real salmon recovery is an urgent state- and region-wide priority – in both the Puget Sound and the Columbia-Snake River Basins.

Senator Murray and Governor Inslee, on the other hand, have stepped up – and it is up to us to hold them accountable – and to support their emerging leadership. This is our work now and we start it today.

The campaign to restore the lower Snake River and its salmon, of course, is bigger than two politicians or a single state. This has always been a regional endeavor - and one with great national significance. Our success depends not only on committed leadership in the Northwest, but also in Washington D.C. – from the full Congress and the Biden Administration.

Finally, we greatly appreciate the leadership of Congressmen Simpson and Blumenauer and Oregon's Governor Kate Brown. Their support for salmon recovery, willingness to disrupt a status quo that no longer works, and advocacy for comprehensive long-term solutions for salmon and orcas and communities – has been critical to bring us to where we are today. We look forward to continuing to work with them and others in the weeks and months ahead.

Links to further information:

Read this SOS blog post on recent developments here.

And the Seattle Times article from May 14: Gov. Inslee, Washington state’s U.S. senators reject GOP congressman’s pitch on Lower Snake River dam removal

2. Nez Perce Tribe’s new ‘extinction assessment’ finds that urgent action is needed to prevent endangered populations from entering ‘extinction vortex’

Nearly half of the wild spring chinook populations in the Snake River Basin have crossed a critical threshold, signaling they are nearing extinction and without intervention may not persist, according to analysis by the Nez Perce Tribe. The river’s steelhead populations, while doing better, also face alarming threats to their existence, according to the work.

Modeling conducted by tribal fisheries scientists and shared with other state, federal and tribal fisheries managers in the Columbia Basin indicates if current trends continue, 77 percent of Snake River spring chinook populations and 44 percent of steelhead populations will be in a similar position within four years.

Tribal fisheries officials say a wide array of short- and long-term actions, such as new conservation hatcheries, predator control, increased spill at Snake and Columbia river dams, and adoption of Rep. Mike Simpson’s plan to breach the four lower Snake River dams, are urgently needed. Fisheries officials in Oregon and Washington agree dam removal should be considered and other actions above and beyond current salmon and steelhead recovery efforts should be pursued.

Regional fisheries managers praised the tribe’s work and said it signals the need for more conservation measures.

“If this isn’t a wake-up call, I’m not sure what folks would be looking for,” said Tucker Jones, ocean and salmon program manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We think their analysis is cause for concern,” said Bill Tweit, special assistant in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fish Program.

“Anytime you have a total spawner abundance less than 50 fish, that really puts you in a bad spot,” said Lance Hebdon, anadromous fish manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

This new report builds on a long series of scientific studies and findings: situation for imperiled Snake River salmon and steelhead populations is dire. The steadily tightening vise of climate change is worsening the situation and making the need for real action more urgent than ever. The science shows it, the people of the region know it - and it's time that our public officials act on it! Related news:

Lewiston Morning Tribune: Tribe’s fish study is ‘a call to alarm’(April 30)

The Spokesman Review: The U.S. promised the Nez Perce fishing rights. But what if Snake River dams kill off the fish?(May 9)

3. New economic assessment finds that Simpson proposal would create 20K jobs

Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson’s proposal for infrastructure spending across the Northwest would support an average of 20,000 jobs annually through 2031, according to a new economic assessment of the proposal.

An independent firm, BERK Consulting was commissioned to analyze the economic impact of the proposed $33.5 billion “Columbia Basin Fund,” which aims to prevent salmon extinction by bypassing four dams on the lower Snake River and making significant investments in agriculture, irrigation, shipping and power generation.

“From an economic perspective, the proposal holds great promise for stimulating jobs, fully mitigating the impacts of change for industries in the region, and investing in a resilient future for the region’s economy,” said Brian Murphy, who oversaw the study.

More than 90 percent of the Columbia Basin Fund would support regional economic investment, including support for new energy sources, shipping, local economic development in Lewiston and Clarkston, outdoor recreation, and conservation work, BERK found, with 7 percent going to bypassing the dams.

Additional important findings include:

• The impact on the region would be felt immediately. Nearly 60 percent of the Fund’s spending would occur before the dams are bypassed.
• Nearly a quarter of it would likely be spent in nine counties closest to the dams, including the cities of Lewiston, Clarkston, Tri-Cities and the lower Snake River corridor.
• $21.2 billion would likely be spent on infrastructure, stimulating job creation and spending throughout the region.
• Under the Fund, grain producers would likely face lower shipping costs, as its budget for shipping development exceeds previous estimates for what would be required to mitigate dam bypass.
• Similarly the Fund’s budget for irrigation exceeds previous estimates for mitigation costs.
• Local and state budgets would benefit from additional sales taxes and one-time revenues, as well as potential ongoing tax receipts associated with a strengthened economy.

Read BERK’s full report here.
Read BERK’s summary of key findings here. 

4. “Lostine River - NE Oregon”: a new video from Pacific Rivers spotlights unlikely partners working together to restore endangered chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin

Watch this excellent new 5-minute video by SOS member organization Pacific Riversshowing how the Nez Perce Tribe and owners of Wolfe Ranch are working together to improve habitat and restore endangered spring chinook populations in the Lostine River in northeast Oregon. The Lostine and others rivers in this corner of Oregon are important tributaries of the Snake River. Restoring the lower Snake River through dam removal will deliver huge benefits for the currently imperiled salmon and steelhead populations that spawn and rear in northeast Oregon - and is a necessary complement to this very good and sustained work being spearheaded by community leaders in this corner of Oregon for many years. Historically, the rivers and streams of northeast Oregon were highly productive salmon and steelhead habitats, with millions of fish returning annually.

The special collaboration highlighted in this new video speaks to the importance of salmon and steelhead and healthy rivers to both tribal and non-tribal communities across the Pacific Northwest - and how their fight for survival has the unique ability to bring people together in unique partnerships.

5. Southern Resident orca ad campaign in Washington State papers calls on Sens. Murray and Cantwell’s leadership. In April, SOS worked with nine partner organizations to organize print and digital ads in four Washington State newspapers – highlighting the plight of the Southern Residents and their urgent need for more – many more – chinook salmon in order to survive and reproduce. Partner organizations include Sierra Club, Orca Conservancy, Earthjustice, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, Earth Ministry, Orca Network, Wild Orca, Whale Scoutand Environment Washington. The half-page print ads ran in the Sunday editions of the Seattle Times, Olympian, Tacoma News Tribune, and Spokesman-Review. Taken together, the print and digital ads were seen by well over 1 million people across the state. We encourage all Washington State residents to call and write Sens. Murray and Cantwell to urge their urgent leadership to develop and advance a comprehensive plan to restore the lower Snake River and its salmon and invest in Northwest communities and infrastructure. See the top story above for further information on recent signs of engagement by Sen. Murray and a continuing lack of engagement by Sen. Cantwell. You can learn more about this ad campaign and find links to further information here.

6. Dam Removal Success Stories 2021: Fourth in a Series – Restoring the Patapsco River

This year, Save Our Wild Salmon and American Rivers have teamed up for a 5-part series spotlighting dam removal success stories from across the Northwest and the nation. These short, informal ‘case studies’ take a close look at recent dam removal projects and explore some of these projects’ economic, community, ecological, and social justice outcomes. All of the stories share themes of renewal, opportunity, and benefit. Dam removal projects frequently start with a struggle over values and visions. In successful cases, this is followed by conflict resolution and collaboration. Persistence is required in nearly all cases - but the payoff is high. River restoration projects - 69 dams were removed across the United States just in 2020! - invariably deliver significant benefits to communities, economies, and ecosystems - and have transformed many a skeptic to supporter. Restoring the Patapsco River: The fourth story in our series focuses on the Patapsco River, which flows from its headwaters in central Maryland into Baltimore Harbor. Since 2010, three dams have been removed on the river, including Union Dam, Simpkins Dam, and Bloede Dam. This case highlights the Bloede Dam removal, which occurred in 2018 and restored 65 miles of spawning habitat for blueback herring, alewife, American shad, hickory shad, and over 183 miles for American eel. Though dam removal was recent, dwindling populations of alewife and blueback herring are already returning to the river. Just this year, researchers saw an alewife upstream of the previous site of the Bloede Dam. A researcher from the Department of Natural Resources, William Harbold, stated, “That single fish was able to swim unimpeded from the Atlantic Ocean to that spot in the Patapsco River. That’s something that hasn’t been possible for well over 100 years, maybe longer.” Further, Bloede Dam removal was essential for public safety; it caused many injuries to swimmers and multiple deaths over the dam’s lifetime. Now, the Patapsco River is coming back to life, and hikers, anglers, campers, and kayakers can safely enjoy the river system. Read the full story about the Patapsco River here. Look for our fifth and final “success story” next month, spotlighting the Sandy River.

7. Shout-out to Jen McLuen and J-POD PRINTS

This month, we want to give a huge shout-out to Jen McLuen, a teacher and artist who generously shares her time and her talents to support our work at Save Our wild Salmon.

From her website at www.jpodprints.com: "I grew up in the Salish Sea region, and continue to be inspired by the beautiful place we call home. I hand-carve all of my prints, and print each one by hand with a small press at home. I make limited edition prints, as well as cards. I feel a deep connection to the Southern Resident Killer Whales, who are in dire straits, primarily due to lack of food."

For the last three years, Jen has shared her beautiful handmade notecards and other artwork to help Save Our wild Salmon build its community and advance our program work. She sells her notecards and prints at fairs and other events in western Washington - and online. In addition to sharing her cards and artwork, Jen donates 100% of her proceeds from sales to SOS. See - and purchase - Jen’s beautiful artwork here.

By David Mack
December 21, 2018

In the Dec. 5 issue of the Herald-Republic, the editorial board praised the recommendations of the Governor’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force. But the task force provided weak recommendations, including the long-term reduction of pollution and allowing additional water to flow over some dams.

Notably, the task force failed to meaningfully address the central problem pushing the orcas into extinction: a lack of salmon.

Biologists and engineers who study salmon populations recommend bypassing the four dams on the Lower Snake River. The dams kill large numbers of smolts and restrict access to pristine breeding habitat near the river’s headwaters. Removing the dams would provide the largest benefit in the shortest amount of time.

This issue hits home for me. I grew up in Yakima and worked on farms in the summer. The welfare of farmers is near and dear to my heart. No profession is more dependent on a functioning ecology. I’ve also spent many early mornings fishing with my dad and have been captivated by the orcas, commonly known as killer whales, for as long as I can remember. It frustrates me to watch lobbyists and politicians pit farmers and salmon against each other.

Lobbyists, such as the Farm Bureau, present Washingtonians with a false choice between “fish or farmers.” They argue that removal of the dams will cripple farmers and cause energy rates to drastically increase. These claims are false.

First, the increasing efficiency of appliances and an abundance of clean energy sources — including natural gas, solar and wind — make the dams unnecessary. Washington has long been an exporter of energy; we produce far more than we need. Regardless, the dams in question are “run of the river” dams. This means they have little capacity to store water to produce power when water levels are low, during the summer and winter. Taxpayers get back only 50 cents for every dollar invested in the dams. In short, the dams are a terrible investment.

Second, freight shipped using the Lower Snake River system has declined more than 70 percent since the year 2000. The cost to barge products is competitive only because of taxpayer subsidies. These dollars could instead fund the expansion of rail lines to provide alternate shipping options.

Lastly, only one of the four dams — Ice Harbor — provides irrigation for nearby farms. The removal of this dam could be mitigated with extended piping and additional pumps to transport water at relatively low costs.

Taxpayers have spent approximately $15 billion attempting to mitigate the harm caused by these dams, with nothing to show for it. The dams on the Lower Snake River are destroying native salmon populations and pushing the southern resident orcas to extinction.
Removing the four dams on the Lower Snake River presents an opportunity to restore salmon populations and provide food for the orcas — without hurting farmers or giving up clean, affordable energy.
I respectfully ask my fellow Washingtonians to reject the false choice between “fish or farmers” and instead support a future in which the two can thrive together.

David Mack is a Yakima resident.

 https://www.yakimaherald.com/opinion/saturday-soapbox-to-help-the-orcas-and-improve-salmon-runs/article_fb12fec6-048d-11e9-9b43-8353577df5d1.html

Coming to a river, -er, location near you!

For eons, a one-of-a-kind population of killer whales has hunted chinook salmon along the Pacific Coast. For the last 40 years, renowned whale scientist Ken Balcomb has closely observed them. He’s familiar with a deadly pattern: Salmon numbers plummet and orcas starve. The downward spiral compelled him to realize that studying whales is no longer enough. He needed to act. The orcas need roughly a million salmon a year, where to find a million fish? The solution says Balcomb, is getting rid of four fish-killing dams 500 miles away, on the largest tributary to what was, until it was dammed nearly to death in the last century, the largest chinook producing river on earth. Studying whales is science. Removing dams is politics. Defiantly mixing the two, says Balcomb, has become the most important work of his storied career.

Click here to see the preview and visit the Dammed to Extinction website.

Join the filmmakers and SOS and friends at a screening near you! Learn how four deadbeat dams on the lower Snake River choke off access to thousands of miles of high, wild, pristine river and stream habitat upstream. Restoring this river in southeast Washington State by removing its costly dams will save money, restore declining salmon populations, and feed starving orcas.

Help promote these screenings by visiting and sharing the events on the SOS Facebook Page!

Upcoming Screenings:

Seattle, WA.Friday, October 4th. 7 PM. Meaningful Movies Wallingford. Keystone Congregational Church, 5019 Keystone Place N. In association with Save Our wild Salmon. Visit the Facebook page for more information.

Eugene Environmental Film Festival.October 4th - 6th. For more information, visit www.eugevoff.org.

Portland, OR. Tuesday, October 8th. 7 PM. Patagonia, 1106 W Burnside St, Portland, OR 97209. For more information, click here.

Poulsbo, WA. Tuesday, October 17th. 7 PM Vibe Coworks, 19225 8th Ave NE, Suite 201. In partnership with Grounds for Change. Tickets available here.

New York, NY. October 17th - 27th. Wildlife Conservation Film Festival. For more information, visit www.wcff.org

Friday Harbor Film Festival. More details coming soon. Visit www.fhff.org.

Portland, OR. Tuesday, November 12th. 6:30 PM. OMSI Empirical Theater. 1945 SE Water Ave Suite 100, Portland, OR 97214. Screening hosted by Columbia River Keeper.

Walla Walla, WA. November 14th. More information coming soon.

Past Screenings:

Olympia, WA. Thursday, September 12th. Capitol Theater, 206 5th Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501. Visit the FaceBook page for more information or contact angela@wildsalmon.org. Tickets available at here.

Anderson Island Washington. September 13th - 15th. Johnson Farm Archival Building. For more information, visit https://andersonislandarts.com/film-festival/.

Tacoma, WA. Thursday, September 26th. 6:30 PM. The Grand Theater, 606 Fawcett Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402. Tickets available here.

Gig Harbor, WA.September 26-29th. Gig Harbor Film Festival. For more information, visit www.gigharborfilm.org.

Portland EcoFilm Festival.September 26th - 29th. For more information, visit http://www.portlandecofilmfest.org/

Boise, ID.Tuesday, October 1st. 7 PM. The Flicks, 646 W. Fulton St. Tickets $10 at the door. Post-screening Q&A with filmmakers Steven Hawley and Michael Peterson.

Moscow, ID. Friday, September 9th. 7 PM. Kenworthy Theater, 308 Main St, Moscow, ID 83843. Admission free, donations appreciated. For more information, contact angela@wildsalmon.org

Issaquah, WA. Tuesday, August 20th. 7 PM. Gibson Hall 105 Newport Way SW, Issaquah, WA 98027. For more information, visit the Facebook event or contact angela@wildsalmon.org. SOLD OUT!

Seattle, WA. Thursday, August 8th. 7 PM. Patagonia 2100 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98121. For more information, visit the Facebook event or contact angela@wildsalmon.org.

Langley, WA. Saturday, July 20th. 2 PM. The Clyde Theater. Post screening Q&A with filmmaker Steven Hawley and Orca Network's Howard Garrett.

Bellingham, WA. Tuesday, July 2nd, Doors at 5:30 PM, film at 6:00 PM. Pickford Theater, 1318 Bay St, Bellingham, WA 98225. Post-screening discussion with filmmaker Michael Peterson. Tickets available here. For more information, contact angela@wildsalmon.org

Vashon, WA. Tuesday, June 11th, 6 PM. Vashon Theater, 17723 Vashon Highway SW Vashon, WA. Hosted by Meaningful Movies Vashon. For more information see the Facebook event or contact amy@backbonecampaign.org

Seattle, WA. Friday, June 7th, Pre-reception at 5:30, general doors at 6:30. The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115. Access to pre-reception with food and drinks with minimum $10 donation ticket. Reserve your spot here. After-screening Q&A with filmmaker Michael Peterson and orca experts. For more information see the Facebook event or contact angela@wildsalmon.org.

Spokane, WA. Thursday, May 16th, 7 PM. The Garland Theater, 924 W Garland Ave, Spokane, WA 99205. After-screening Q&A with producers Steve Hawley and Michael Peterson. For more information see the Facebook event or contact sam@wildsalmon.org

Seattle, WA. Thursday, May 9th, 7 PM. SIFF Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109. After-screening Q&A with producers Steve Hawley and Michael Peterson. 

TAKE ACTION: Tell the governors its high-time we had an honest cost/benefit analysis for the four lower Snake River dams.

• Washington Governor Jay Inslee
• Oregon Governor Kate Brown
• Idaho Governor Brad Little

VISITthe Dammed to Extinction website.

SOS' Northwest Dammed to Extinction film tour is brought to you with the partnership and/or sponsorship from Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Whale Scout, Wild Orca, Environment Washington, Backbone Campaign, Wild Orca, and National Wildlife Federation. We are deeply grateful for their support.