A Review of Fish Passage Provisions in the License Application for the Hells Canyon Complex

Energy Storage in the 21st Century

Felt Dam Draft License Application Comment

Sackett v. EPA decision on Clean Water Act

Today, the Supreme Court rolled back protections under the Clean Water Act (CWA) by severely limiting the interpretation that adjacent wetlands will be protected and considered “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) except in extremely limited circumstances. For decades, the definition of WOTUS has been a moving target as the CWA’s protections only extend to […]

Call to Action: Biden Administration is Requesting Comments on Salmon Recovery

A Chinook salmon in the South Fork of the Salmon River. Photo credit: Matt Steinwurtzel The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a division within the federal government, opened a 60-day “request for information” period earlier this month on federal actions related to salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin and Lower Snake River Dam (LSRD) removal. […]

Society of Environmental Journalists comes to Boise with focus on salmon & dams

The Society of Environmental Journalists Conference is being held this week in Boise, with over 800 attendees from all over the world. The theme “Crossing the Divide: Urban Growth and Wild,” fits Boise well, as it is one of the fastest growing boomtowns in the country and although a red state in most political spheres, […]

U.S. & Canadian governments hold a public listening session for the Columbia River Treaty

This week, the U.S. and Canadian governments held a public listening session for the Columbia River Treaty. The Treaty, signed in 1961 by the two governments, coordinates hydropower generation and flood control across the vast Columbia Basin. According to Save Our Wild Salmon’s press release, the “U.S. government negotiators vowed to intensify their work to […]

Overwhelming support of dam removal & salmon recovery during U.S. Gov. listening session

An overwhelming majority of speakers who were able to publicly comment during today’s listening session (on March 31st) hosted by the federal government led by the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service (FMCS), were in favor of breaching the Lower Snake River dams to restore salmon and steelhead populations in the Northwest region. Just as with science, […]

Northwest Energy Security Act – salmon & our region deserve better

Following statements from President Biden during the Conservation Action Summit,  U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) with U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) introduced the Northwest Energy Security Act to protect the four lower Snake River dams. The introduced legislation pushes back against decades of science and reporting […]

Talking Points for the CEQ Listening Session

Attention salmon advocates! The federal government will be holding a listening session led by the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service (FMCS) on March 31st from 10:00 – 1:00 (Pacific Time) to hear from and fill in the public on ongoing settlement discussions that are occurring as a part of the pause in the litigation surrounding salmon […]

EPA issues new definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act…again

(City Council members inspect pollution of the Cuyahoga River 1964 – Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland State University Library) Just before the new year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers announced plans to formalize and clarify the definition of “waters of the United States”, or WOTUS, under the Clean Water Act […]

Honoring MLK Jr. Day: “A Dream for Re-wilding Wild Snake River Salmon and Steelhead”

by Bert Bowler – Snake River Salmon Solutions In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr’s 1963 – I Have a Dream Speech Ten millennia ago, a great resource was flourishing in the Columbia River basin in the form of ocean going fish. These magnificent creatures classified anadromous are salmon, steelhead and pacific lamprey. They […]

Bonneville Power Administration must get on board with salmon recovery & dam removal

The Biden Administration and Northwest politicians have shown a desire to lead the region beyond the status quo – which has for decades been a hydrosystem that is deadly to salmon and steelhead, Treaties and agreements between the U.S. government and Tribal nations that have not been upheld, and businesses and communities that rely on […]