Dam visit

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall will join other national farm industry leaders June 15-16 at the Port of Lewiston for an informational tour highlighting the importance of the lower four Snake River dams and the entire Columbia-Snake River system.

The event, which is being hosted by Idaho Farm Bureau Federation and Idaho Grain Producers Association, is being held to provide national agricultural industry leaders a better understanding of how those dams and the river system benefit the ag industry in Idaho and the entire Pacific Northwest. 

During the event, Duvall and other ag leaders will tour Lower Granite Dam, which is one of the four dams on the lower Snake River.

Those dams have been targeted by environmental groups over the years for removal. Some groups believe removing the dams would help improve populations of endangered salmon.

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation and other farm organizations in the Northwest support efforts to improve salmon populations but adamantly oppose dam breaching.

The tour will include presentations on how the river system facilitates the barging of large amounts of commodities to West Coast ports for export, as well as presentations on the significant harm that removing the dams would cause to farmers and others in the PNW.

Being able to see the river and dam up close will provide these national leaders a better understanding of the important role they play in supporting agriculture in the Pacific Northwest, said Stacey Katseanes Satterlee, executive director of the Idaho Grain Producers Association, which represents wheat and barley farmers in Idaho.