We need real solutions for salmon and orca!

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We need real solutions for salmon and orca!

US Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CRSO EIS

Highly-endangered Southern Resident orcas have been slipping closer to extinction for years. Their survival is threatened by pollution, ship traffic, and most of all–starvation caused by lack of food.

These orcas rely upon salmon to survive. But salmon are threatened themselves by the presence of four outdated dams on the Lower Snake River. These dams stop salmon from migrating the river and, in turn, radically limit available food sources for orcas.

Every passing week is another lost opportunity to bring these outdated and unnecessary dams down and save critically-endangered orcas and the salmon they rely upon. Please submit your comment in support of dam removal on the Lower Snake River today. Comments are accepted through April 13, 2020.

Sponsored by

Endangered Species Coalition

To: US Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CRSO EIS
From: [Your Name]

Please accept this comment on the CRSO Draft Environmental Impact statement. As an American who is concerned about the health of our rivers and the communities who rely on them, I value the opportunity to express my concerns regarding the Draft EIS.

The ability for all citizens to make their voices heard in regards to decisions that impact the natural systems and species which are held for them in public trust by the U.S. Government is critical. Thus I must express my alarm at the way this comment period was conducted. The Draft EIS is a highly controversial and complicated document. The complexity of this issue, as well as the global emergency caused by the spread of the Corona Virus in the Pacific Northwest and across the country, calls for an extension of the comment period to provide adequate opportunity for feedback. In addition to a lack of adequate response time, the mechanism used to collect comments through phone calls faced significant challenges, limiting participation in the public comment process, I do not feel that the public has been given adequate opportunity to make concerns fully heard.

In regards to the Draft EIS itself, I am incredibly disappointed in the outcome of that study. Despite calls over the last 25 years for an urgent need to re-evaluate the status quo in regards to the Snake and Columbia rivers and their impact on the endangered Chinook salmon and Southern Resident Orca populations, this document has failed to seriously consider those impacts and provide the alternative actions needed to ensure the recovery of Chinook salmon populations, a critical resource for Pacific Northwest communities and ecosystems. The loss of this species must be prevented at all costs as the economic, ecological, cultural and health benefits to the region are irreplaceable. The DEIS recommendation of a Preferred Alternative essentially amounts to “business as usual” with minor modifications, and does not reflect the depth of the change needed to recover salmon populations and the species which depend on them. Experts agree that the past 25 years has shown that this approach is costly and ineffective, and a violation of federal law.

The Draft EIS also fails to fully address the significant impact that the dams along these river systems have on the critically endangered Southern Resident Orca population. Accepted science indicates that restoring the lower Snake River would lead to stabilization of Chinook runs and provide critical food sources for the Southern Resident Orca. Removal of the dams would also have economic benefits for recreation

The Draft EIS does not address the positive impact that removing dams along the Snake and Columbia river would hold in terms of preserving our important natural resources as well as to boost tourism and the outdoor recreation economy. A free flowing river is not only an essential for salmon recovery, but is necessary in order to right historical wrongs done to the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest region, who did not consent to the construction of these dams on their land, and whose important cultural sites including grave sites, were flooded by dam construction . The Palouse tribe was forcibly evacuated from the lands flooded by the Snake River dam construction, and continue to fight for recognition and return of their ancestral lands.

In conclusion, a new approach is urgently needed to develop a comprehensive plan. The people of the Northwest and nation require and deserve – one that (1) recovers salmon abundance (not merely avoids extinction), (2) invests in vibrant fishing and farming communities to provide them a healthier future, (3) supports a reliable, affordable and increasingly decarbonized regional energy system and (4) addresses the historical damage that the construction of these dams have done to the tribal communities in the region. I strongly urge this body to extend the comment period to provide adequate opportunity for thorough feedback from the public and to restructure their Preferred Alternative proposal to reflect independent science around the urgency of dam impacts on salmon, tribal communities and Southern Resident Orca.

Thank you

1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ULRGXinTGtRDG9pyMISuhp-D0NllA8yP/view

2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UYjtrhIZILgdgb3EGCWJPskbaj9pByB9/view

3. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/yakama-lummi-tribal-leaders-call-for-removal-of-three-lower-columbia-river-dams/