Wild Salmon & Steelhead News is published monthly 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 - unless we act! Find out how SOS is helping lead efforts to restore health, connectivity, and resilience to the rivers and streams these fish depend upon in the Columbia-Snake Basin and how you can get involved to help restore healthy, abundant, and harvestable populations and sustain more just and prosperous communities. To learn more and/or get involved, contact Martha Campos.
1. In memory of Ed Chaney
2. Thank you to all who 'GaveBIG' in May!
3. Advocating for Pacific salmon from the Northwest to D.C. - and how YOU can help!
4. BPA makes confounding decision on energy market
5. Watch the 'RECIPROCITY: Envisioning a Healthy and Restored Columbia Basin' webinar recording!
6. Join SOS and friends at upcoming Salmon, Orca, and River events!
7. Salmon media round-up
From the desk of Pat Ford
Ed Chaney, who inspired the start of Save Our wild Salmon Coalition in 1991-92 and led it in its early years, passed away on May 15.
Ed had spent much of his career working on salmon, steelhead, and rivers – first as staff with the National Wildlife Federation, and then as a consultant to states, Tribes, and NGOs. In 1977, when the Snake Basin had its lowest-ever recorded flows, Ed was instrumental in enlisting Cecil Andrus, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, to push federal agencies for more water during salmon's migration period. That's when I met him.
Like many of us, Ed thought the fish provisions of the Northwest Power Act, passed by Congress in 1980, would help restore salmon and steelhead. But after a decade of much noise but little real action by the newly-created Northwest Power Council, Ed was among those who gave up on the Council, which was hopelessly split politically when it came to what salmon really needed. He cheered when Endangered Species Act petitions were filed for Columbia and Snake salmon in 1989-91. Sensing an opportunity, he pushed to create an umbrella organization, focused on the Columbia and Snake rivers, to represent sport fishers, commercial fishers, and conservation-minded people with one voice on dam operations, which could also work closely with Tribes. Ed had worked with nearly all of them, watched them fight over ever fewer fish, and realized that only together the region could possibly change the salmon/dam status quo. The Save Our wild Salmon Coalition came into being, and the new-at-the-time Bullitt Foundation (thank you, Emory Bundy!) provided seed money for its first few years.
Ed became director of the new coalition, with two staff members - myself in Boise and Tim Stearns in Seattle. It took a couple of years to sort out, scientifically and internally, what Save Our wild Salmon would do and how it would operate. Ed's great contributions were his long list of leader contacts across every salmon constituency, and his sharp focus on the Columbia and Snake rivers. He realized that a pro-salmon coalition working on all salmon matters in the entire Northwest would be spread too thin. It was a tough decision, but I think the right one.
A couple of years into the new coalition, Ed decided he was not the organization man the coalition needed to work through its tensions and mature workings. SOS was a real coalition, with real differences among its member constituencies. Ed was an inspiration, a goad, a very good writer, and the man you wanted on stage debating with utility executives and Bonneville Power Administration leaders. He was not fond of management, so he bowed out in 1993-4. He inspired the coalition to form, and to take on its powerful opponents. He couldn't take the coalition where it had to go internally, but Save Our wild Salmon Coalition would not have begun without him.
Ed was delightful and sometimes difficult to work with. He was funny, shading to mordant. He quickly spotted flaws in the arguments of friends and opponents alike. He was often inspiring, with quick wit and deep knowledge. He had a fighting style that could, at times, approach slash-and-burn.
I spoke to Ed for the last time this January. I interviewed him about Bill Platts, a great river ecologist, Ed worked with on livestock grazing. Ed's voice was weak, but he was the same synthesizer and thinker I remembered from 30 years before. He was looking forward to more hunting and fishing, which were lifelong passions.
I remember Ed for many qualities, memories, good works for salmon and rivers, and above all, the creation of Save Our wild Salmon. We haven't won yet, Ed, and there's been a reverse or two lately. But it's a long game, as you knew. I'm glad you lived to see the Klamath River restored as its four dams came down. Now, on to the lower Snake, as you would so earnestly wish us to keep on.
Ed leaves his life partner Charlotte, his two sons Eric and Mark, his brother Timothy, and Eric’s two grandchildren, James and Ann.
Pat Ford grew up in Idaho Falls. He worked for the Idaho Conservation League for seven years, and he worked for the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition for 22 years. He retired in 2014 and lives in Boise with his wife, Julia Page.
2. Thank you to all who 'GaveBIG' in May!
Earlier this month, Save Our wild Salmon participated in GiveBIG, Washington State's nonprofit giving campaign. Big thanks to everyone in the SOS community who helped us meet and exceed our $30,000 goal! Over 90 online and offline supporters contributed to our GiveBIG campaign this spring, which was superpowered by a very generous donor who offered a $15,000 matching grant, allowing donors to double their impact.
Your generous financial support ensures that SOS will persevere with our vital policy, communications, outreach, and community organizing work! Thanks to you, we'll continue engaging stakeholders, policymakers, and people to support the Six Sovereigns' alliance and its comprehensive plan to recover salmon and invest in communities, known as the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI), including the urgently-needed removal of the four costly lower Snake River dams and the replacement of their services with modernized alternatives.
We're very grateful to all of you who care so deeply about wild salmon and steelhead, and their rivers and streams in the Columbia-Snake Basin. Your strong support - and your advocacy - energizes us in these challenging times, and makes a huge difference for our capacity, programs, and impact on behalf of these amazing fish. Thank you!
3. Advocating for Pacific salmon from the Northwest to DC - and how YOU can help!
From left to right: Ginna Owens (NextGen), Marin Plut (NextGen), Linda Behnken (Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association), Abby Dalke (SOS), Tanya Riordan (SOS), Keenan Sanderson (Tlingit Haida), and Amy Grondin (Duna Fisheries)
Just a few weeks ago, a powerful team of salmon advocates from Alaska, Washington, and Oregon flew to Washington, DC to meet with members of Congress and press for policies to support healthy abundant salmon populations and the many benefits they bring to communities, cultures, and ecosystems across the entire Pacific Northwest.
Click the image for a closer look at the map.Our team included two youth advocates with our NextGen Salmon Collective, two female commercial salmon fishermen, and a Tlingit & Haida member, along with Abby and Tanya from the SOS team. While geographically diverse, the unique, sacred thread that tied our team together was Columbia Basin salmon. As this map shows, many of the stocks of salmon that spawn in the Columbia and Snake rivers migrate through the Pacific Ocean to as far north as southeast Alaska. They cycle nutrients from the Columbia Basin to the coastal waters of southeast Alaska. With a unified voice, our diverse team of advocates asked policymakers to protect and restore these cherished species that connect and nourish us.
We asked Northwest Members of Congress to support the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI) - the comprehensive plan to recover salmon and invest in communities developed recently by the "Six Sovereigns," (the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon and Washington). The CBRI is our best path forward to restore Columbia and Snake River salmon and other native fish populations, ensure a clean and socially just energy future, support local economic resilience, and uphold our nation's longstanding, still unmet, commitments to Tribal Nations. Implementation of this historic, regionally supported plan will bring salmon abundance, and the prosperity that accompanies it, to communities from Idaho to Alaska.
Whiule we were in D.C., we urged Members of Congress to oppose harmful attacks that would undermine important progress and implementation of the CBRI, and to secure critical funding in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget for appropriations requested by the Six Sovereigns Alliance.
You can be a part of this important advocacy work by urging your members of Congress to support the Six Sovereigns' FY26 Appropriations request to support the implementation of the CBRI.
Thank you for your continued support!
4. BPA makes confounding decision on energy market
Columbia Map, © Claire WaichlerOn May 9, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) issued its Day-Ahead Market Policy, which established the agency's intent to pursue participation in Southwest Power Pool's Markets+ day-ahead market. This announcement was unfortunate, but unsurprising; BPA has been signaling this direction for more than a year. Given the high costs anticipated for the Northwest and lack of any urgency, BPA's decision strikes salmon and clean, affordable energy advocates as premature and wrong-headed. Unless they change course, BPA's decision is expected to harm communities and the salmon of the Pacific Northwest for many years to come.
Let's step back and consider this decision and its implications. Organized energy markets exist to facilitate energy trading among utilities and power marketers. Properly organized, these markets can deliver significant benefits to people and businesses, as well as natural resources and the climate. Using powerful computers and complex algorithms, these markets can match up entities with surplus power to those seeking to purchase power.
BPA already participates in one such market – the Western Energy Imbalance market (WEIM). That market is operated by California's Independent System Operator (CAISO). The WEIM's advanced market system automatically finds low-cost energy to serve real-time consumer demand across the west. Since its launch in 2014, the WEIM has enhanced grid reliability and generated big cost savings for its participants. In addition to its economic advantages, the WEIM improves the integration of renewable energy, which leads to a cleaner, greener grid. At this time, BPA and most Western utilities participate in that market.
Now, two different entities are developing new "day ahead" energy markets. CAISO is working on an Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM), while the Southwest Power Pool, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is developing a day ahead market, Markets+. EDAM is scheduled to go live in 2026 while Markets+ targets 2028 as its launch date.
BPA had no compelling reason to commit to an energy market at this time. It could have: (1) announced a nonbinding intention to join Markets+, or (2) announced an intention to participate in EDAM, or (3) continued to participate in the WEIM while awaiting further market design and governance developments in both day ahead markets before making any decision.
Advocates for salmon and for clean and affordable energy urged BPA to choose Door #3 above, as did the four U.S. Senators from Oregon and Washington, plus the governors and utility regulators of both states. These parties pointed to better economic returns from either WEIM or EDAM, compared to Markets+, according to consultant studies paid for by BPA itself. For the year 2026, for example, this new economic analysis favors EDAM over Markets+ by $69-$221 million per year. These significant savings will mean real benefits (e.g. lower bills) for many families and businesses. This considerable difference in benefits between Markets+ and EDAM remains sizable even in later years (2030 and 2035). BPA would achieve $79-$129 million in greater benefits annually by continuing participation in the WEIM than it would from joining Markets+ —even if all other regional market participants join a day ahead market.
The larger market footprint or geographic reach of WEIM or EDAM, compared to Markets+, would also enhance reliability and reduce pressure on Northwest hydropower operations - and thereby allow some greater space in the Columbia and Snake rivers for salmon and steelhead.
So, what can BPA be thinking in making this confounding choice? The key fact is this: Without BPA participation, Markets+ is probably not viable. If BPA, which owns 75% of Northwest transmission (those large lines that move electricity from the places it is generated to places where it is consumed), joined EDAM, other potential northwest Markets+ participants, like Puget Sound Energy, the Mid-Columbia PUDs, and BC Hydro's marketing arm, PowerEx, would have very limited ability to deliver or receive energy from the rest of the far-flung footprint of Markets+. In other words, without strong participation by key Northwest entities and access to their hydropower, Markets+ would be too scattered and constrained to succeed.
BPA knows that their participation is a life-or-death matter for Markets+, as does the Southwest Power Pool. This gives them a degree of governance leverage they would not have as a participant of EDAM.
What this all means is that BPA is effectively subordinating economic benefits to its customer utilities, and their retail customers (e.g. people like you) to its desire to exercise maximum control over this emerging energy market.
Fortunately, BPA's decision is far from final. As noted above, Markets+ will not go live before 2028. A lot can and will happen in the next 2 ½ years as market design and governance evolves in both day ahead markets. Save Our wild Salmon and allies will continue to advocate for smarter choices by BPA that support affordable power, investment in clean and renewable energy resources, and salmon recovery.
In the media:
5. Watch the 'RECIPROCITY: Envisioning a Healthy and Restored Columbia Basin' webinar recording!
This spring, we hosted a new webinar series: RECIPROCITY! It focuses on respecting and caring for salmon and their special relationship to the health of our ecosystem, land, water, species, and people! In our third installment of our webinar series, we were thrilled to have an engaging conversation that envisions the benefits of a healthy and restored Columbia Basin.
The Columbia Snake River Basin once annually sustained 10-18 million salmon, steelhead, and native fish, and was rich in diverse native wildlife, plants, and healthy waters and rivers. However, the Basin has experienced significant changes in the past 150 years, pushing salmon to the brink of extinction. Restoring health to the Columbia Basin - including lower Snake River dam removal - offers big opportunities for communities to connect with thriving ecosystems, sustainable economic opportunities, healthier communities, and a balanced web of life.
Our featured guests each spoke about their unique relationships with the salmon and the Columbia and Snake rivers, and they shared their perspectives on many benefits for all people that will come from healthier lands, waters, fish, and wildlife in the Columbia Basin.
Thank you to our featured guests!
- Kayeloni Scott, Executive Director, Columbia/Snake River Campaign
- Liz Hamilton, Policy Director, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association
- Tom O’Keefe, Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director, American Whitewater
- Reggie Westgate, NextGen Salmon Collective student leader
Watch the recordings of previous RECIPROCITY webinars. Thank you all for joining the series, and we hope you will join us in the fall as we continue with the series!
Thank you to the Natural Encounters Conservation Fund for their ongoing support of this webinar series!
6. Join SOS and friends at upcoming Salmon, Orca, and River events!
Mark your calendar for upcoming summer events! Visit wildsalmon.org/events for a list of events near you.
June is Orca Action Month!
Orca Action Month is an annual series of events intended to raise awareness about the threats facing critically endangered Southern Resident orcas, educate the public on what we can all do to protect them, and build a community to celebrate these magnificent beings. This year’s theme, Threads of Life: Connecting Orcas, People, and the Future We Share, reminds us that we’re all woven into the same web of life. From the rivers that feed our salmon to the actions we take each day, everything is connected. When we protect orcas, we protect the future for all of us. Visit orcamonth.org for a list of upcoming virtual and live events throughout the month of June.
June 14: All Our Relations: A Majestic Matriarchy (Seattle, WA)
Please join us for A Majestic Matriarchy on Saturday, June 14, from 6:30 – 8:30pm at St. Joseph Parish, Seattle, WA, with a Netse Mot: A Gathering Meal from 5:00-6:30 pm! This event will feature a powerful lineup of Indigenous women who will bring attention to the plight and importance of the Southern Resident orcas. Join us to listen, learn, and be inspired by the heartfelt words, visions, and voices of Indigenous women leaders from around the Northwest.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale basis and free for Indigenous Peoples. Learn more and register. A Majestic Matriarchy is presented by Se'Si'Le, an Indigenous-led nonprofit in Washington State, and supported by a coalition of NGOs and faith-based partners.
August 5: Salmon Life Cycle (Portland, OR)
Join Greater Hells Canyon Council, Pacific Rivers, and Save Our wild Salmon on a bike ride to show support for a free-flowing lower Snake River and the recovery of Columbia Basin salmon on August 5, 2025, 6pm!
Let’s get together for a fun bike ride centered on environmental activism and a shared love of free-flowing rivers! RSVP!
July 31-August 5: Snoqualmie Tribe Canoe Journey, Paddle to Lower Elwha
Dams Removed – A River Reborn – Spirits Renewed.
The Snoqualmie Tribe’s Culture Department is hosting this year’s Canoe Journey, Paddle to Lower Elwha: ʔéʔɬx̣ʷaʔ nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm̕ Strong People (July 21, 2025 – August 5, 2025). Learn more about the Canoe Journey and route here.
August 15 - August 16: Envisioning A Restored Lower Snake River Flotilla (Hells Gate State Park, ID)
Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment is hosting a Flotilla on August 15 – 16th!
The two-day event will include an outdoor evening film screening The Grand Salmon, live music, interactive art, food, and a Flotilla with speakers highlighting the benefits and impact of a restored, healthy, and vibrant river. RSVP coming soon!
August 22 - August 24: Sawtooth Salmon Festival (Stanley, ID)
Join a free community celebration of the 900-mile journey of salmon from the ocean to Redfish Lake in Stanley, Idaho! Visit sawtoothsalmonfestival.org to learn more about the festival, hosted by Idaho Rivers United and Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association.
Here are a couple of recent stories about the urgency and opportunity today for salmon recovery and river restoration:
News:
- NewsData: Lower Returns for Sockeye, Coho, Steelhead Predicted in 2025
- The Spokesman-Review: Columbia River salmon restoration hit hard by $1.5B cut to Army Corps of Engineers
- Fast Company: These stunning photos show how nature came back after the world’s largest dam removal project
Opinion:
- The Columbian: Local View: Now is not the time to weaken a law that works
- The Oregonian: Opinion: A surge of salmon – and hope – after Klamath dams’ removal
LTE:
- Lookout Eugene-Springfield: Northwest Energy Security Act ‘fails not only salmon, ecosystem but tribal communities’
- The Spokesman-Review: Abundant salmon return: A vision
- The Spokesman-Review: Investing in salmon would boost regional economy
- Tri-City Herald: The Snake River dams are killing salmon. Time for them to go
