06/13/05 Renewed debate on the Lower Snake

It had been relatively quiet the last three years on the matter of whether or not the four lower Snake River dams should be breeched in the name of endangered and threatened fish recovery. But that all changed in an instant when a U.S. District Court Judge ruled the federal government's latest biological opinion for fish recovery on the Columbia and Lower Snake River systems was invalid. Given that ruling, the most recent plans by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct maintenance dredging of the Lower Snake to clear sediment for cargo barging, and a motion by environmental groups to increase summer spill over some federal dams for fish recovery, the decision by the House Subcommittee on Water and Power to hold a field hearing in Clarkston on future management of the Lower Snake seemed ironically timely. And it brought many of the stakeholders to testify before the committee which included three Northwest Congressional members in attendance. Many of the same arguments heard before were brought up again. For example, Stevens County Washington Commissioner Merrill Ott lives and works a great distance from the Lower Snake region. But as a member of the Eastern Washington Council of Governments, he realizes the importance of the Snake's multiple uses to the Northwest economy. OTT: We need to keep the Columbia and Snake River systems as viable working rivers for all the region's residents, while using local expertise and the best scientific information to provide a balance between economic and natural resources. We understand that this balance much provide protection for fish, and clean, low-cost hydropower, transportation, and irrigation for our region. And Ott and others are not just concerned about adverse affects of dam breeching but what increased spill and drawdown of dam reservoirs for fish recovery might be to the multiple uses. Both tribal and commercial fishing interests say yes economical impacts are important. But as Liz Hamilton of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association points out, why not consider the economic benefits sport and commercial fishing has on the region as well. HAMILTON: In 2001, the spring Chinook season brought the town of Riggins Idaho nearly a quarter of its annual income. When Brewster Washington, a town of 2,000, has salmon season, one fishery provides 1.2 million dollars for about fifty miles of river. So salmon are big business, it's just hard to recognize that. In future programs, more on the renewed debate, and why it appears the causes remain passionate, but this time, respectful of the other side's views.