Opinion

April 21, 2024
By Leonard Forsman

For thousands of years, our ancestors managed this region’s landscape based on our knowledge of the animals who share this region, and their habitats. This ecological knowledge was passed along from generation to generation, forming the foundation of our values and culture, until, at treaty times, our right to continue these practices was undermined.

This change was memorialized by our ancestor, Chief Seattle, in the speech he delivered as negotiations with Washington territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens were wrapping up:

“Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.”

Today, after decades of work led by our fishers, elected leaders and culture keepers, we have modern tools available to us to advocate for the health of our region’s ecosystems and the prospects for future generations. This Earth Day, much of that effort centers on supporting the Climate Commitment Act, restoring vital waterways and advocating for growth that makes room for a thriving natural world.

Climate action

The climate crisis is urgent, especially as special interests work to repeal the Climate Commitment Act through Initiative 2117. Streams and oceans are heating up, threatening salmon populations. Puget Sound waters are getting more acidic, harming shellfish populations and the marine food web. Shorelines are eroding on our reservation and throughout our traditional territory.

Climate change is a threat to our way of life as Suquamish people and to all life.

When the Climate Commitment Act was passed by the Legislature, we were hopeful that it would reduce our region’s carbon footprint and help us all adapt to the rapid changes. The CCA isn’t perfect — it can be improved. But to throw it out and threaten the progress we’ve made based on speculation about its impact on gas prices is shortsighted.

Protecting salmon habitat

This Earth Day comes as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision, which determined that treaty tribes have the right to half the harvestable salmon and shellfish in Puget Sound and beyond. The ruling has been foundational to our work to protect the natural habitats that support these species.

One of our efforts has received a lot of attention from the news media in recent months. After decades of delays and after appeals up to the U.S. Supreme Court, a decision was issued ordering obstacles to fish passage, like culverts, be removed. A treaty right to fish is not a meaningful right if fish runs go extinct. The Washington Department of Transportation has made real progress in removing obstacles and replacing them with bridges and other structures that support healthy streams and rivers as required by the court. We’re excited to see the early signs of salmon recovery

Over time, we hope to restore our region’s stream and river systems as much as is feasible to pre-contact conditions. Roads and bridges that preserve these waterways allow our state’s growth to coexist with a healthy environment.

Growth and waterways

Growth is inevitable in our region. As part of our treaty rights-protection efforts, we have worked for decades to control sprawl and manage growth in partnership, and sometimes at odds with, local governments.

We encourage all jurisdictions to prioritize sustainability and natural resource protection when they update their comprehensive plans. Confining dense development to urban growth boundaries, preserving rural areas, and investing in on-site stormwater retention and water treatment systems are necessary to protect the region.

In our ancestral tradition, the people, land, animals and plants are inseparable — we all share the same spirit. This respect for the natural world is what we’re working to restore. The damage done won’t heal overnight, but together with many others, we’re making progress. I urge all of us to recommit to the long-term restoration of this beautiful region we call home. Your children, and mine, will thank you.

Leonard Forsman is chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, a signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott.

March 29, 2024
By Dan Evans, Les Purce and KC Golden

“Coming back to the watershed of the Columbia River, which covers the greater part of the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and a part of Montana, it is increasingly important that we think of that region as a unit.” — FDR, 1937 address at the Bonneville Dam

The winds of change are howling in the Columbia River Basin. New climate policies are transforming our energy landscape, while the region’s salmon runs are in grave trouble. These challenges are in some ways unprecedented, but the solutions are deeply rooted in our energy history, a past that offers critical lessons and vital tools as we face forward.

We are now entering the third defining era of the region’s modern energy history. In the first, construction of the dams in the Columbia Basin beginning in the New Deal Era brought abundant, cheap power to the region, expanding economic opportunities but imperiling the salmon that sustained native cultures. The second era began in the 1960s, when utilities projected major energy deficits and began an ambitious program of nuclear and coal development. By the 1980s, the financial collapse of the nuclear program resulted in what was then the largest municipal bond default in history, and some salmon stocks neared extinction.

To address these crises, Congress created the Northwest Power and Conservation Council — an interstate compact of the four Columbia Basin states — in 1980. Congress charged the council with developing long-term power and conservation plans and a program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife harmed by hydroelectric development. The regional act that created the council included strong provisions for public involvement, transparency and accountability. Guided by the council’s plans, the region dramatically improved energy efficiency and deferred the need for costly new energy infrastructure, saving us billions of dollars on our power bills. Significant investments in fish and wildlife programs have yielded benefits, but wild salmon stocks have declined, and some are critically endangered.

Now comes a third chapter in our region’s energy story — an era marked by climate disruption and energy transition from fossil fuels to clean power. Vehicles, buildings, and industries powered by oil and gas are switching to electricity. Solar and wind are now the cheapest new power supplies, but they are intermittent; new strategies are needed, including energy storage and demand management, to ensure reliability. Information technology is putting huge demands on our power system while offering opportunities for “smart grid” deployment to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

The challenges facing our electric system at the dawn of this third era are immense. Washington’s energy strategy calls for nearly doubling our electric power use over the next several decades, while retiring fossil-fueled power plants. Energy use and costs are likely to decline overall (because electricity is more efficient and cheaper than oil) but electric power demand will grow significantly.

While transitioning our energy system, we must also come to grips with the imperative of salmon recovery. Since salmon and power supply depend so heavily on the same resource — the Columbia River — we must confront these challenges together. Two recent agreements between the federal government and tribes and states in the basin offer pathways to progress. One, with tribes in the Upper Columbia region, provides significant funding to explore the reintroduction of salmon above Grand Coulee Dam. A second agreement between the federal government and the “Six Sovereigns” (the Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla and Warm Spring tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon), commits to multiple initiatives that benefit salmon and support clean energy development.

The new agreements do not definitively resolve the future of the Lower Snake River Dams — that will likely require Congressional action. But they do take further steps toward improving conditions for fish and respecting tribal sovereignty while offering additional federal resources to help address the region’s energy challenges.

In this third regional energy era, history can be a guide. As we did in the 1930s, we need bold thinking and ambitious investments to meet the challenges ahead. But the first energy era also taught us that responsible energy development requires strong environmental safeguards and a commitment to honor tribal treaty rights. The second energy era demonstrated that conservation is often the cheapest energy resource available. We can better ensure a reliable and affordable energy future and protect fish and wildlife if we aggressively reduce waste.

When Congress passed the Regional Act in 1980, it could not have foreseen some of today’s challenges. But the tools Congress provided remain useful, and we can sharpen them to meet the moment.

With more extreme weather and immense uncertainties on both the demand and supply sides, sophisticated energy forecasting, rigorous planning and maximizing energy efficiency are more critical than ever. The council’s process is robust, with powerful tools for modeling the hydropower system and addressing emerging risks. In its next plan, the Council must update its approach to ensure adequate, reliable power supplies and peaking capacity as more of our energy comes from intermittent renewable resources and extreme weather intensifies.

The 1980 act directs substantial federal resources to the states and tribes for fish and wildlife programs. The new Columbia Basin agreements build on this foundation while giving more autonomy to the tribes whose cultures depend on salmon. The success of this expanded effort depends on objective scientific review, regional cooperation, transparency, and accountability. These are the foundations of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program, and they have never been more vital.

The council, like America, is more divided politically than it was in 1980. But we can’t let politics distract us from this vital mission. As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “unity has never meant uniformity.” The act provided powerful tools that can help us tackle today’s challenges, guided by a shared commitment to sound science, rigorous analysis and regional collaboration. We look forward to working with colleagues in Idaho, Oregon, Montana and the region’s sovereign tribes, united by the shared responsibilities that come with stewardship of a resource as vast, bountiful, and central to our regional well-being as the Columbia River.

Dan Evans, Les Purce and KC Golden: 

Dan Evans served as Washington’s Governor (1965-77), U.S. Senator (1983-89), President of the Evergreen State College (1977-83) and the first Chairman of the NW Power and Conservation Council (1981-83).

Les Purce was President of the Evergreen State College (2000-15), Dean of extended academic programs at WSU, and co-chair of the Southern Orca Resident Task Force.

KC Golden directed Washington’s Energy Policy Office in the mid-1990s and has served in a variety of non-profit positions supporting climate solutions. Purce and Golden represent Washington on the NW Power and Conservation Council.

Seattle Times Op-ed: 'Reliable energy, healthy salmon runs: The challenges of having it all' link

Thank you for publishing the “A bold blueprint for salmon restoration puts region on right course” on March 9. Your readers deserve the facts about this historic and significant path forward, (not the misleading and hyperbolic rhetoric perpetuated by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, “Lower Snake River Dams vital to local economy,” Feb. 28).

Three years ago, Mike Simpson, a conservative congressman from Idaho, proposed a comprehensive solution to recover healthy salmon populations, restore a freely flowing lower Snake River and invest in our communities in a manner that brings everyone forward together. Rep. Simpson deserves high praise for his vision and leadership, initiating an essential policy conversation about the heart and soul of our Northwest home.

Our region’s tribes, elected officials and the Biden administration worked collaboratively with stakeholders to find the right path forward that prioritizes salmon and orca, healthy rivers, a more diversified energy system and a healthy economy.

Doing what it takes to restore salmon abundance in the Columbia Snake River Basin is essential for upholding our nation’s treaty promises to tribes and protect our special way of life here in the Northwest. Celebrating the significance of this landmark agreement is more than warranted, but it should not distract us for even a minute from the dire circumstances salmon face today. We need to remain vigilant and active and make sure the administration, and our Northwest governors and members of Congress urgently follow their good words with good deeds. Let’s do all we can to build on this historic agreement and do right by the tribes and current and future generations.

Tanya Riordan

Spokane Valley

Spokesman-Review: Letter to the Editor: 'Protect our special way of life' article link

Sun sets on a dammed section of the Snake River in between Lower Granite dam and Lewiston, ID, near Chief Timothy Park. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)

Sat., March 9, 2024
By Emily Washines and Bill Arthur

Salmon are central to the Northwest way of life and even more essential to Northwest Tribes. Recently, we celebrated a landmark agreement that will ensure they remain the beating heart of our Columbia River Basin.

Signed by key federal officials, leaders of the “Six Sovereigns”– four Columbia Basin Tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon – plus representatives from fishing, conservation and renewable energy groups, the Columbia Basin agreement provides a strong foundation to restore and conserve Snake and Columbia River salmon, steelhead and other native fish. The agreement also expands clean energy production, increases resiliency of the river system, and provides stability for communities throughout the Columbia River Basin.

The agreement provides federal commitments including more than $1 billion in federal funding so we can begin to implement key elements of the Tribal- and state-led Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative. The CBRI charts a new course for the Northwest and provides a blueprint for restoring the Columbia and Snake rivers, including increased investments in habitat restoration and clean water.

It is an important first step towards a future where salmon and clean, renewable energy production coexist.

All of this comes at a critical moment in time. The Northwest is undergoing a rapid energy transition to meet our region’s energy needs and climate goals – and address the escalating pressures of climate change. The unprecedented heat dome of 2021 and a deep cold snap this winter show the urgent need to diversify energy resources to improve reliability during the growing winter and late-summer demand peaks. This winter’s diminished snowpack is further stressing the hydrosystem, forcing us to reckon with the risks of overrelying on one energy source. As a result, the Bonneville Power Administration has downgraded its financial picture for 2024.

As we move toward restoring the Columbia River Basin, and mitigating the impacts on salmon as a result of dams on the lower Snake River and Columbia rivers, BPA has a central role to play. To meet its commitments in the signed agreements, BPA must modernize its energy services with renewed focus on energy efficiency, demand response, wind, solar, battery storage and transmission. There is good news on this front. It can be done, and affordably. A preliminary analysis by BPA shows that its $300 million commitment and operational changes under the Columbia River Salmon Agreement will affect electric rates on average over the next 10 years by less than 1%. John Hairston, BPA’s administrator and CEO noted this at a recent congressional hearing.

Part of the solution will come through developing new Northwest Tribal clean energy programs. In supporting Tribal clean energy sovereignty, new federal investment will go toward replacing the power that comes from the lower Snake River dams. Energy experts at the forefront of our shifting energy landscape are clear: With smart planning and investments, the energy provided by the lower Snake River dams can be replaced.

Poignantly, the signing of this agreement comes on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision, which affirmed tribal fishing rights in the Northwest. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure that an equal share of the salmon sacred to Northwest Tribes is also a meaningful and harvestable share. This agreement takes steps to honor our obligations to Tribes. Jeremy Takala, Chair of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee, noted in recent testimony to Congress: “As the U.S. Supreme Court recently affirmed, Treaty fishing rights include the right to actually catch fish, not just to dip our nets in empty waters without salmon.”

Reorienting, strengthening and diversifying the region’s energy grid is well within our reach–and is a must if we want to prevent the collapse of the ecosystems central to the region’s spectacular biodiversity.

It is with a deep gratitude to Northwest Tribes and state leaders in Washington and Oregon that we can celebrate this historic moment. The unity and leadership that guided the signing of the agreement puts the Northwest region on the right course. It will also take the collective efforts of the tribes, states, stakeholders and Northwest congressional delegation to seize the momentum and deliver on the new promises the United States has made.

Bill Arthur, of Shoreline, Washington, is the Sierra Club’s Snake/Columbia River Salmon campaign director. Emily Washines, of Toppenish, Washington, is board president for Columbia Riverkeeper.

The Spokesman-Review: 'Emily Washines and Bill Arthur: A bold blueprint for salmon restoration in the Columbia River Basin puts region on the right course' article link 

Rewilding the lower Snake River is the best inclusive solution for all involved, especially wild salmon and steelhead, writes guest columnist Bert Bower.

February 26, 2024
By Bert Bowler

The Seattle Times asked the question that if the Lower Snake River Dams were removed and salmon response didn’t meet expectations – then what? The answer encompasses more than benefits to migrating salmon – a functional waterway can have immense value.

The lower Snake River is destined for rewilding for many more reasons than ensuring wild salmon and steelhead do not go extinct. The cultural and ecological values of a free flowing river far exceed those of a reservoir.

The 140 miles of the lower Snake is no exception. When Lower Granite Reservoir reached Lewiston in 1975 – 14,400 acres of bottom lands, 1,125 acres of island habitat and 1,123 riparian acres were inundated under 90,000 surface acres.

The lower Snake River in the 1950s and 1960s has been described as miles of sandy beaches, sturgeon fishing, thick riparian zones packed with chokecherries, hackberries and mulberry trees. The riparian habitat was rich with pheasants, quail and other wildlife. The river spread out into several channels with many islands. Farming and fruit orchards were common as well as hundreds of cultural sites.

A momentous archaeological discovery was made in 1965 — known as the Marmes Rockshelter — at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake rivers that dated 10,000 years before the present. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a cofferdam around Marmes to keep it from flooding when Lower Monumental Reservoir filled in February 1969, but it failed.

Before the Lower Snake was impounded the Corps documented 63 named rapids encountered by Lewis and Clark in October 1805.

The antithesis of a living river is an impoundment, i.e. slack water. Reservoirs slow velocity, modify sediment transport, increase water temperature and transform floodplains that disrupt river continuity.

The four lower Snake River dams are run-of-river dams – they have little storage and no flood control but collectively create 140 miles of slack water that prior to 1961 was a vibrant functional river. Migrating juvenile salmon depend on the enhanced water velocity to carry them toward the Pacific Ocean to boost survival.

The Corps predicts dam removal will replicate the Elwha in Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula that included significant negative short-term effects followed by long-term benefits. John McMillan, a Trout Unlimited scientist, who studied rewilding the Elwha envisions the lower Snake – an existing canal-like reservoir complex will evolve into a river with islands, side channels, riffles, pools and rapids. Gravel bars connected to ground water will create cold – water refuges.

Rewilding the lower Snake River is the best inclusive solution for all involved, especially wild salmon and steelhead. A healthier ecosystem will provide longer-term benefits compared to the status quo. A warming climate will continue to degrade the 140 miles of unhealthy reservoirs.

Thirty miles of toxic blue-green algae appeared in the lower Snake the fall of 2023. Alex Fremier, an environmental science professor at Washington State University, said the bloom on the Lower Snake is “unusually large” for a river. Dammed waters and blooms are certainly connected. No toxic algae were observed in the free-flowing Snake above Lower Granite Reservoir.

NOAA’s – Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead – describes multiple benefits of rewilding the Lower Snake River:

Removing the lower Snake River dams would directly improve floodplain connectivity, natural sediment distribution and riparian habitat conditions benefiting both aquatic and terrestrial species, improve spawning habitat for species such as white sturgeon and fall Chinook salmon, and restore free-flowing migratory corridors for bull trout, lamprey and sturgeon. A floodplain–connected valley is inherently more diverse and productive, not only for aquatic species, but across and entire floodplain. While these benefits are independently valuable, they are only a small fraction of the potential benefits that restored riverscapes can be provide in the face of climate change.

White sturgeon migration and passage in the Snake River is limited. Removing the four lower Snake dams would provide free passage and access to additional spawning areas allowing for viable natural recruitment and continuous connectivity with areas upstream in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. Spawning and subsequent juvenile production is currently constrained to the free-flowing reach of the Snake River between the upper end of Lower Granite Reservoir and Hells Canyon Dam. As there is currently no upstream passage for adult white sturgeon at the dams, removing the lower Snake River dams would ultimately allow unrestricted movement of juvenile and adult white sturgeon throughout the expanded free-flowing reach from McNary Dam to Hells Canyon Dam.

Restoration of natural riparian conditions along the Snake River after dam removal will increase habitat for terrestrial species (e.g., deer and waterfowl) and amphibians over time. The improved riparian conditions, combined with natural flow regimes in the Snake River are expected to increase the presence of cottonwood galleries and other riparian shrubs and vegetation, which are limited in the region. These habitats are key for avian species such as osprey, eagles, and herons.

Mainstem river rehabilitation, together with stream restoration across the tributary environment, is needed.

Bert Bowler is a native Idahoan and graduated from the University of Idaho with a master's degree in fisheries management in 1972. He worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for 29 years – then after retirement in 2001 worked for Idaho Rivers United, a grassroots river advocacy organization, for another six years. Bowler hung his own shingle called Snake River Salmon Solutions in 2007. He is as an independent advocate whose mission is promoting dialogue on the importance of restoring wild Snake River salmon and steelhead.

Idaho Capital Sun: Rewilding the Lower Snake: How cultural values of a free flowing river exceed those of a reservoir article link

By DON SCHWERIN
Feb 16, 2024

I grew up with the dams. I was graduating from Walla Walla High School when the dams on the Snake were being built. My dad, a farmer, was trained in engineering. He left me with an appreciation of the dams as engineering successes. I am still awed by the massive structures.

Another thing my father left me was the importance of commitment. My father has passed now but he would be distressed by my generation’s shortfall in meeting our commitments to ensure the salmon runs on the Snake. These commitments go back to the 1855 treaties and to the more recent Endangered
Species Act in 1973.

No one in particular is to blame for the failure of the salmon to thrive. The Corps of Engineers has tinkered with the operation of the dams to make them more friendly to the salmon. We have come a long way from the idea that the turbines were chewing up baby salmon. The Corps has met every metric for smolt survival, but still. ... We now speculate that the pools themselves are responsible for the poor survival rate. And we now concede that deteriorating ocean conditions are probably the most important determinant of salmon survival. Dealing with the dams, though, seems easier than moving the temperature dial for the Northern Pacific Ocean. 

Courts, not politics, are going to decide whether we have met our commitments to treaty and law. Even the recent settlement between the Federal government and the tribes was to settle a legal dispute, not a political decision. No amount of pounding our chests and proclaiming our commitment to keeping the dams intact or, for that matter, breaching them is going to make much difference in the long run.

My guess, and it is a guess, is that we have maybe 10 years before the courts command the breaching of the Lower Snake River dams. We have the choice of continuing to make indignant protestations, or set about making plans for a smooth transition, so smooth that if and when the breaching is to happen, we are indifferent — if we can look past our sense of loss.

This transition needs to solve at least three different problems. These are called “services” the dams provide. Power — electricity — is an obvious “service” that needs to be met. Irrigators in Franklin County and Walla Walla County rely on the pool behind Ice Harbor. This is a “service.” We need to keep them
growing crops. The third “service” is moving grain grown in the Palouse to the export terminals in Portland and Kalama. We need to figure out how to replace the barges without wildly increasing the cost to wheat growers.

We can turn to a couple of different ways to meet these “services.”

We need to assure that we have wind, solar, storage and maybe nuclear, power sufficient to replace the hydropower. Our test is simple. No blackouts. Private money is the answer here. There is money in electricity. There is enough profit in electricity to attract the necessary investment to make us whole. We need to guide solar and wind development and make sure that we have the necessary grid capacity but otherwise the power problem will take care of itself. Private dollars will drive the solutions.

For irrigators the answer is Federal compensation...you take it, you pay for it. If Ice Harbor no longer holds the river back irrigators will be left high and dry. Water will still flow in the Snake. It will just be farther out. The irrigation intakes from behind Ice Harbor Dam need to be extended farther into the river and the pumps beefed up to handle the longer draw. The Federal Government pays this bill.

Replacing the barges means investment in rail, a pretty easy choice if burning diesel and rebuilding highways is the alternative. State government is the player here, but with help from Federal investment.

Rail investment takes a little more description, and the description comes in two packages.

The first package is to retrofit the ports along the Snake. These ports have a rail line that runs through their parking lots. They don’t use it. Ports of Lewiston, Almota, Central Ferry, and Lyons Ferry need to turn around and fill rail cars instead of barges and provide rail-siding space in their back lots. The Great Northwest Railroad runs along the north shore of the Snake from Lewiston to Pasco. This existing rail has the capacity to replace the grain shipped via barge to Pasco. The rail is there and the train runs. It is ready to go. This first step is quick and easy. It does not change how grain reaches the river. Once at the river, it just moves by rail instead of barge in case Tidewater is no longer on the river.

Growers can see this solution every time they drive across rail tracks on their way to the river. They are right to complain, though, that every time they have had to rely on Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (BNSF) or Union Pacific (UP) to haul their grain that they forfeit their profit margin to these monopolies. Growers rely on barges not only to move their crop but to keep BNSF and UP honest.

A second package would help keep competition alive. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) owns short line rail in the Palouse but has neglected it. By rebuilding a couple of short sections of track and reclaiming a longer stretch of unused line, WSDOT can create an alternate route for independent rail operators to move grain all the way through the Palouse without relying on BNSF or UP. There are two major grain shuttles in the Palouse that accumulate grain from smaller elevators to load onto rail. These are at McCoy near Rosalie and at Endicott. They are currently locked to either BNSF or UP. With a little effort, WSDOT could make way for eager independent operators to move grain from Rosalie to Pasco without using either BNSF or UP. McCoy and Endicott could choose BNSF, UP, or an independent, depending on price and service.

This WSDOT corridor would replace the competition between the barges and the mainline railroads (BNSF and UP). Growers for the first time would have a real choice of how to move their grain. We can leave it to the market to figure out what works best and cheapest. If it turns out that the WSDOT corridor wins, it can steal business from that rail line that runs through the Snake River canyon. That would move trucks off public highways including State Highway 127, the twisty road from Dusty to Lyons Ferry, not a bad idea.

I have sketched out a couple of thoughts about how to replace the “services” the dams provide. A transition from the Lower Snake River dams — if that is what the courts determine — can come with dollars, some private, some public. Solutions take dollars and these dollars flow into our communities. This means jobs and customers. If we go about this willy-nilly then we will leave dollars on the table. We will survive, at least most of us. Most everyone will be angry.

If we are smart, we begin now. Just in case. Let’s make the best deal we can. We can be both happier and better off.

Don Schwerin owns and lives on a dryland wheat farm in the Blue Mountains outside Walla Walla, Wash. His father was a wheat commissioner; his brother chaired WAWG. He was Speaker Tom Foley’s ag staffer in CD 5 and remains engaged as chair of the Ag and Rural Caucus of the State Democratic Party.

Capital Press: Commentary Let's plan for a transition article link