Slide background

Opinion

Save Our Wild Salmon

Idaho Statesman Editorial
12/04/11

ID.statesman.logo"...A recovered and fishable wild salmon population would help restore an outdoor recreation economy in small towns in the heart of Idaho’s salmon country.

That is why the Statesman supports removing the lower Snake River dams in Washington state and replacing the shipping system tied to the dams and the port of Lewiston. We believe this is the best way to protect Idaho’s fish, Idaho’s water and Idaho’s economy — and have argued this since 1997, or six years before Redden’s first landmark ruling rejecting a federal salmon plan.

But in 2011, this region is no closer to salmon consensus, the issue still embroiled in court. There is, from time to time, discussion of bringing together the many groups with a stake in salmon recovery. But there is more talk about talking than there is actual talking. A grand bargain on salmon remains an ideal and an abstraction.

We can and must do better. The feds’ 2014 deadline is a long way off: There’s ample time to at least begin the regional discussion that has been put off for too long."

Read the full editorial from the Idaho Statesman. 

Share This