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Tell Congress to Support Solutions for Salmon!
Contact your representatives today!
Americans deserve a solution that works for salmon, Northwest communities, and taxpayers nationwide. Congress has an enormous opportunity to recover wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, create new family-wage jobs, and build a clean energy future.
Salmon Solutions and Planning Act
Soon to be introduced by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI), the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act of 2009 (SSPA) is a bipartisan bill that will provide both Congress and federal agencies with up-to-date, thorough information about how to best protect and restore wild salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest's Columbia and Snake River Basin.
This legislation offers a way forward to recover these salmon in a manner that can create family-wage jobs, revitalize regional economies, and invest in a clean energy future.
We need your help today
Please contact your member of Congress right now and urge them to be an original co-sponsor the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act of 2009!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please co-sponsor the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act (SSPA)
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
The recovery of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers is an urgent natural resource issue facing Pacific Northwest communities and American taxpayers. I write today to ask you to be an original co-sponsor of the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act of 2009, soon to be introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI).
The Salmon Solutions and Planning Act (SSPA) is a bipartisan bill that would provide both Congress and federal agencies with up-to-date, thorough information about how to best protect and restore wild salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest's Columbia and Snake River Basin. This legislation offers a way forward to recover these salmon in a manner that can create family-wage jobs, revitalize regional economies, and invest in a clean energy future.
Snake River salmon and salmon dependent communities are in crisis. Today, all runs of Snake River salmon and steelhead are either already extinct or listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Scientists say that unless we take bold, new actions to restore these magnificent fish, we will very likely see some Snake River salmon and steelhead populations go extinct in our lifetime. The studies authorized in this legislation would provide the necessary information to make constructive and forward-looking policy decisions.
To date, federal taxpayers have spent more than $8 billion dollars on failed salmon recovery efforts. With many populations still at or below the perilously low levels that led to their listing under the ESA, it's clear the expensive status quo is not working. SSPA will help identify actions that will both save salmon and protect communities - with a focus on cost-effective and commonsense solutions.
Congress must ensure that the necessary planning and evaluation is done to efficiently manage salmon recovery and respond rapidly if new actions, such as the removal of the four lower Snake River dams, are required. The studies authorized by SSPA on transportation, energy, riverfront restoration and irrigation will help us understand how to meet the needs of American taxpayers, Northwest electricity ratepayers, and local communities. With forward-looking planning, we can protect rural jobs, farmers, energy users and communities while at the same time restoring wild salmon to the Columbia and Snake River Basin.
Please support and help pass the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act of 2009. I look forward to your action on this crucial issue. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
July 24, 2009
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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.
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