Secretary Locke: Recover Salmon - Create Jobs - Invest in Clean Energy!

Right now, the Obama Administration is deciding the fate of a Bush-era plan for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia & Snake Rivers. After more than $8 billion spent on ineffective programs, it's time for real solutions. America can't afford to continue the expensive, failed policies of the Bush Administration. Gary Locke, as Secretary of the Department of Commerce, oversees NOAA-Fisheries, and will strongly influence the Obama Administration strategy.

By removing the four deadly dams on the lower Snake River, the Obama Administration and Northwest communities can embark together on a plan to recover wild salmon in the Columbia Basin in a manner that creates jobs, revitalizes regional communities, invests in clean energy, and saves taxpayer dollars.

The support and leadership of Secretary Gary Locke is critical. Please send the letter below. Ask Secretary Locke for his leadership use the best available science to find a new way forward for endangered wild salmon, Northwest communities, and taxpayers nationwide.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Restore science, Recover salmon, Rebuild Jobs

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to urge you and the Commerce Department to take immediate action through NOAA-Fisheries to ensure the protection and restoration of the Snake River, its legendary wild salmon and steelhead runs, and the jobs and communities that depend on this precious resource. An effective plan must include the removal of the four lower Snake River dams and replacement of their limited services with modern alternatives, like clean, renewable energy and rail. With the right investments in our communities, we can restore an endangered national treasure and regional economic resource, create thousands of family-wage jobs, and promote a clean energy economy.

The 2008 Bush-era Columbia-Snake River Biological Opinion is severely flawed and will not prevent the extinction of numerous unique populations of Pacific salmon. It does very little to restore migratory access to the highest, wildest, largest, and best-protected spawning and rearing habitat remaining in the continental United States. Reconnecting the endangered Snake River salmon populations with the high-quality habitat found in central Idaho, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington is critical to the future of this national treasure. I remain hopeful that President Obama's promises that science will guide policymaking will prevail as NOAA-Fisheries and your Department of Commerce reviews this clearly inadequate Biological Opinion, and develops a path to a lawful, science-based and durable solution.

I strongly support including the removal of the four costly lower Snake River dams in any new plan. Years of scientific inquiry demonstrate that these dams are extremely harmful to the threatened and endangered populations of wild salmon and steelhead. These Snake River dams, combined with the four dams downstream on the Columbia River, kill as many as 90 percent of the young salmon and steelhead as they migrate to the ocean. Dam removal is the only action scientists have identified that will help these fish survive in the short term and eventually recover to healthy, sustainable, and fishable numbers.

The Department of Commerce can help restore this salmon fishery and make local communities whole again by working to bring together key stakeholders in the Northwest as part of a much-needed settlement process. We strongly believe that representatives of differing interests can work to craft an effective, legal, and science-based blueprint in a manner that produces healthy salmon populations, sustainable new jobs, healthy economies, an improved transportation system, and clean and affordable energy.

The recovery of a Snake River salmon fishery through the removal of the four lower Snake River dams would also generate hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and income every year through restoration of the recreational, commercial, and tribal fishing communities. A free-flowing lower Snake River would also provide an estimated $310 million annually in new non-fishing recreational opportunities such as boating, hiking, hunting, and camping. In addition to these significant economic benefits, dam removal itself and replacement of their limited services with alternatives would generate many thousands of jobs and save many millions of taxpayer dollars over the long-run.

There are no other fish in the world like those that return to the Snake River and its tributaries. Thanks to their high elevation spawning grounds, Snake River salmon and steelhead are well-positioned to thrive in spite of global warming as long as sufficient numbers are able to survive the migration to the Pacific Ocean and back.

Thank you in advance for your leadership on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
August 10, 2009


Background Information

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.