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Salmon Plan Rewrite 2004 Alert
Swimming thousands of miles and climbing mountains en route to their native streams, wild salmon and steelhead are both a wonder of Nature and an important part of the Northwest economy and culture. Now, due to four dams on the lower Snake River, this valuable national treasure and natural resource are in danger of extinction. Federal policies are failing - salmon, salmon businesses, and U.S. taxpayers. Right now, we have a chance to encourage President Bush to do the right thing -- restore wild salmon and steelhead by partially removing the four lower Snake River dams. Please help TODAY!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Restore salmon - Partially remove the 4 lower Snake River dams
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am an American who is concerned about healthy salmon, healthy economies, and healthy environments. I am writing to urge you to remove the four lower Snake River dams in order to restore one of our nation's most important natural resources - the once-mighty wild salmon - to abundant, self-sustaining, and harvestable populations.
For centuries, the legendary wild salmon and steelhead of the Snake and Columbia rivers have made important contributions to the economy, ecology, and culture of the Pacific Northwest. But this regional icon and national treasure is today threatened with extinction. Your leadership is needed
Your Administration has weakened - rather than strengthened - the prospects for recovery. These policies are failing - failing wild salmon, failing the communities and businesses that depend on them, and, through wasteful and ineffective programs, failing U.S. taxpayers. More than a year ago, a federal court judge ordered your agencies to rewrite the Federal Salmon Plan, finding your current plan insufficient and illegal.
Our salmon and the jobs that depend upon them need a new approach. In the last several years, billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on ineffective measures such as trucking young salmon around the dams. In order to restore our salmon and rebuild salmon jobs, I urge you to commit to following the science and spending the public's money wisely. I urge you to implement the most scientifically credible and economically prudent salmon restoration measure - removal of the four lower Snake River dams - as a key recovery action in your new Federal Salmon Plan.
Please include my letter in the formal comment period during your re-write of the Federal Salmon Plan; i.e., FCRPS Biological Opinion. Please let me know your position on this important issue.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
December 16, 2003
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The Pacific Northwest's wild salmon are a cornerstone of our ecology and culture, and they are a vital economic engine for rural and coastal communities from Alaska to California. When the four lower Snake River dams were built in the 1960s and 1970s, wild salmon populations plummeted and human communities have suffered. Today, all species of Snake River salmon are either extinct, endangered, or threatened. In fact, last year only three sockeye salmon returned to their home waters of Redfish Lake in Idaho, named for these colorful fishes' once-abundant numbers. Rather than improve the water quality in the Snake River, the Bush Administration has operated the four Lower Snake River dams in a way that has resulted in extremely high water temperatures--making it lethal for salmon. In fact, one of the Snake River dams violated Clean Water Act standards for 63 consecutive days last summer. Violations have already occurred this summer as well. Salmon are literally in 'hot water.'
In the last few years, over $4 billion has been spent on failed salmon recovery measures -- like trucking salmon around dams. Biologists agree that removal of the four lower Snake River dams is the best recovery measure for salmon. The four lower Snake River dams only provide a small amount of electricity - -roughly four percent of the Northwest's power, no flood control, and a minimal amount of irrigation. The dams were primarily built to allow barge transportation to the port of Lewiston, Idaho, roughly 500 miles inland. Upgrades to the existing railroad system, diversification of clean energy sources (like wind power), and a re-engineered irrigation system are not only possible, but could also save taxpayers money over the long-term. If we remove the dams and replace the benefits that the dams provide, we can build a future that works for salmon and people. We cannot replace wild salmon once they've gone extinct. Urge President Bush to remove the four lower Snake River dams today!
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