A Plan to Breach the Snake River Dams

President Biden’s proposal of a $2 trillion dollar infrastructure plan is giving hope to activists for the removal of four dams on the Snake River. These dams prevent Chinook salmon, now endangered, from traveling upstream to spawn.

According to data from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the 1950s saw almost 130,000 adult salmon returning to the Snake River. By 2017, less than 10,000 returned to reproduce.

The decline in salmon populations is of particular concern to Columbia River tribes, including the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.

The Nez Perce Tribe offered its full support to Congressman Mike Simpson’s Columbia Basin Initiative, a 33.5 billion dollar plan to breach the four dams on the Snake River. The plan was designed to be a component of Biden’s infrastructure package, employing less than 2% of funds.

In a press release from the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee, Chairman Shannon Wheeler commented: “We view restoring the lower Snake River — a living being to us, and one that is injured — as urgent and overdue.”

Chris Connolly, who serves as the Pacific Northwest Field Representative for the Endangered Species Coalition, says that now is the time to act. Both Senators in Washington hold key positions in Congress. Senator Patty Murray serves as Assistant Democratic Leader and Senator Maria Cantwell will be the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. With regional leaders in positions of influence, Simpson’s framework to breach the Snake River dams could secure a chunk of Biden’s proposal.

Connolly noted that the first step is to contact local representatives and ask for their support in issues of conservation and tribal justice. “We need to convince our regional members of congress to champion this issue, to be leaders, and bring it to Congress.”