Columbia River Sockeye Salmon. Courtesy WDFW.
The Obama Administration is walking away from what could have become the first big salmon fight of 2010.
NOAA Fisheries is dropping plans to cut off spring time spills at four dams on the Lower Snake River.
Yes and no, according to Rocky Barker in the Idaho Statesman.
The paper has a copy of a memo written after a group of independent scientists looked at the 2008 Biological Opinion, or BiOp. The BiOp is a ten year plan to help salmon and steelhead recover in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
According to Barker, the independent team praises the BiOp for doing a great job with the scientific analysis of the plan. But it also questions how much good the BiOp will do for endangered fish because there’s not enough data to draw conclusions. The independent team also agrees with the Obama Administration that breaching dams on the Lower Snake River should only be done as a last resort.
See Story: Memo shows scientists raised doubts actions to save salmon will do as much as advertised.
Could it be that the dams on the Snake River will come down, and salmon runs will be restored to their glory years?
Chinook Salmon Courtesy USGS
This article in the High Country News says the right combination of political and legal forces are coming together to make it a real possibility. With Judge Redden expected to rule any day on the latest Columbia River salmon recovery plan, growing support from farmers and a new chief at NOAA, the website says, “for the first time in decades, the answer may be yes.”
And for anyone interested in just learning more about salmon issues, the story is a good history lesson as well.
