Lower Snake River Campaign

In what is becoming the most heated dam removal campaign in the nation, Friends of the Earth is part of a diverse coalition of groups pressing for the removal of four federal dams on the lower Snake River.

While there are more than 450 major dams in the Columbia River basin, the four lower Snake River dams are particularly lethal to the salmon and steelhead trout that once flourished in this river. In the 30 years since the dams were built, wild salmon populations in the Snake River have dropped by nearly 90 percent, with every species either endangered or already extinct.

The good news is that it is not too late: federal, state, and tribal scientists now believe that removing the earthen portion of these four dams offers the best and perhaps the only way to restore Snake River salmon. Dam removal will also provide significant benefits beyond restoring salmon including:

Generating up to $500 million annually in increased fishing and recreational activity on the newly restored river;

Reviving tribal cultures and economiesas well as honoring the United States' treaty obligations to Native American tribes; and

Saving taxpayers millions of dollars annually by ending wasteful government programs that take the fish out of the river and haul them downriver in trucks and barges.

While the benefits of partially removing these dams are huge, the costs are relatively modest and affordable. The four lower Snake River dams provide no flood control and only minimal irrigation benefits. They produce less than 5% of the Northwest's electricity, which could readily be replaced with energy conservation measures and clean renewable energy sources while still keeping the region's residential electric bills the lowest in the nation. And railroads and trucks could affordably replace the current river barge transportation from Lewiston, Idaho, ending the taxpayer subsidy of a seaport over 400 miles inland from the Pacific.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government is required to produce a long-term recovery plan for endangered Snake River salmon runs. At public hearings across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, thousands of citizens have turned out to tell the Clinton-Gore Administration that we need salmon and that the four lower Snake River dams don't make sense.

Although a decision is due this summer on whether to remove these dams, the Administration appears to be waffling on this long-delayed issue. This despite the recent determination by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that in addition to disrupting the fish's migration, the four lower Snake River dams have created water temperatures and levels of dissolved gases that violate the Clean Water Act. Biologists have long known high water temperatures can jeopardize a salmon's survival and too high a level of dissolved gas, in this instance nitrogen, can kill the fish.

The EPA stated in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built and operates the dams, that only dam removal would likely result in the attainment of water quality standards in the lower Snake River. In a blistering critique of the Corps' draft plan for the Snake River dams, the EPA attacked the Corps' scientific conclusions as "false and misleading." The EPA found that the Corps understated the impact of the dams, while pointing out how higher water temperatures affect egg viability, resistance to disease and the growth rates of young salmon.

Vice President Al Gore has come under increasing criticism for his failure to clearly articulate his plan to save salmon and to improve water quality in the Snake River. Despite the overwhelming legal, biological and economic evidence that dam removal must be a central element to any successful restoration effort, the Administration has repeatedly delayed the decision, seeking to avoid making the tough choices necessary to restore Snake River salmon.

Every species of Snake River salmon is either extinct or listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Coho: Extinct

Sockeye: Listed Endangered in 1992

Spring Chinook: Listed Threatened in 1993

Summer Chinook: Listed Threatened in 1993

Fall Chinook: Listed Threatened in 1993

Steelhead: Listed Threatened in 1998

For more information on removing the Lower Snake River dams, go to the Columbia and Snake River Campaign website.