Wild Snake and Columbia River salmon and steelhead are at a crossroads today. Our nation faces a critical decision. We can "stay the course" - an approach that has failed both salmon and people - or chart a new path that helps both flourish.

Over the last two decades, the federal government has failed repeatedly to develop a lawful, science-based, and cost-effective plan to restore endangered salmon and steelhead to abundance. A lack of leadership from many elected officials has left our wild salmon and West Coast communities that rely on them high and dry.

Through its inaction, the government has allowed wild salmon to swim quietly toward extinction - devastating fishing communities across the West Coast in order to preserve four costly dams on the lower Snake River. Completed in the 1970s, these dams are primarily used for barge transportation. Immediately after completion, wild Snake River salmon and steelhead populations plummeted by as much as 90%. The best available science today demonstrates that dam removal should be at the heart of any effective recovery plan.

The impacts of the Northwest salmon crisis reach across the Pacific Coast economy, ecology and culture. Healthy salmon runs support the Northwest's unique way of life. A world-class fishery once fed the nation, generating billions of dollars in jobs and income for commercial, recreational and tribal fishing communities. But in a sharp reversal, endangered Snake River stocks now limit fishing opportunities, reducing the availability of healthy food, and impacting communities from California to Alaska and inland to Idaho and Nevada.

A changed political landscape - a new Administration and Congress - offers us a fresh opportunity to bring people together to craft an effective plan that recovers endangered wild salmon, creates family-wage jobs, invests in fishing and farming communities, and encourages the development of a clean energy economy. Using the best scientific and economic information, President Obama and Congress have a chance to bring together fishing, farming, and energy interests to tackle the crisis in the Columbia Basin and restore wild Snake River salmon and steelhead to healthy, abundant levels.