In a recent op-ed, Scott Simms states that hydropower and fish can coexist and notes that the returning salmon and steelhead above Bonneville Dam has tripled (“Collaboration not litigation, can support both salmon and hydropower,” Sept. 21).
Respectfully, those figures don’t pencil out for salmon survival. Of the 16 salmon and steelhead runs that historically have returned to spawn above the Bonneville Dam, four are extinct, and seven more are listed under the Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened—including all that return to the Snake River. The future of the Snake River runs are why we must return to court. These salmon will go extinct unless we take action.
In a 2023 report, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council stated that “current approaches will not achieve recovery goals for Snake River salmon and steelhead.” Salmon and steelhead are born in a river and need to return to spawn in a river. In 2022, NOAA Fisheries confirmed that restoring the Snake River is essential to saving endangered salmon and steelhead, reinforcing earlier calls for bold, science-based action.
The lower Snake River dams produce less than 4% of the region’s power, hardly the backbone of our energy system. Instead of relying on four outdated dams, we should be investing in truly clean, wildlife-friendly renewable energy. We must act now and, perhaps most importantly, collaboratively to power the region’s future with salmon and steelhead in our rivers for generations to come.
James Adkins
Adkins is executive director of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders.