Number: 1996-03
WHEREAS, less than one percent of historic wild salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia Basin in 1995; and
WHEREAS, wild salmon and steelhead are in danger of extinction in the Columbia Basin primarily because of the existence of dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers; and
WHEREAS, nearly all scientists and biologists agree that among the eight dams that do the most damage, the four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington state and John Day dam in Oregon on the Columbia River are the leading causes of mortality among juvenile salmon and steelhead migrating to the ocean; that these dams have turned the Snake and Columbia Rivers into a series of lakes, greatly slowing the water flow and raising the water temperature; and that a very high proportion of these migrating fish die from disease, predators and deadly turbines every year trying to make it to the Pacific Ocean; and
WHEREAS, the four lower Snake River dams provide no flood control; and
WHEREAS, the four lower Snake River dams provide irrigation water for only 14 irrigators who together irrigate a total of only 35,000 acres; and
WHEREAS, barging companies and shippers contribute nothing to the operation and maintenance of the four lower Snake River dams; and
WHEREAS, barging companies and shippers contribute nothing to the dredging needs of the four reservoirs behind the four lower Snake River dams and the Columbia River navigation system; and
WHEREAS, the total savings for all shippers is only approximately $20 million annually to transport goods via the waterway as opposed to transporting goods via rail, and yet it is this benefit which has resulted in the near extinction of Snake River salmon and the tremendous decline in Snake River steelhead; and
WHEREAS, a restored salmon and steelhead fishery in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest would be worth well over $400 million annually to communities throughout the region; and
WHEREAS, restoration of Snake River salmon and steelhead is biologically necessary, technically feasible, and economically beneficial to the Pacific Northwest and to the citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, any credible plan must accomplish the goal of restoration with the greatest possible certainty in the shortest span of time; and
WHEREAS, the Corps of Engineers, in an effort to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and improve migration conditions for Columbia Basin juvenile salmon and steelhead, is currently examining as one potential alternative the possibility of a year-round natural river option for the Lower Snake River reservoirs which includes bypassing the existing Corps of Engineers dams named Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor located between Lewiston, Idaho and Pasco, Washington;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 1-3, 1996 in West Palm Beach, Florida, supports a thorough economic examination of the subsidies, costs and benefits of the four lower Snake River dams and the Port of Lewiston, Idaho; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports a thorough examination of the decommissioning of the four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington state named Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor, in order to re-establish Snake River salmon and steelhead in the shortest possible time at the least possible cost to taxpayers of the U.S. and ratepayers of the Bonneville Power Administration.