**Do you agree or disagree with Buzz??? Comment Below**
The 4 lower Snake River Dams.
Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite
This contention has been going on for a long-time, but it seems that momentum is building. Buzz Ramsey, longtime tackle rep for Luhr Jensen, Yakima Bait & Pure Fishing to name a few, is passionate about this subject. Listen as he details his opinions on the best way to improve smolt to adult ratio on salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin.
Though there is fish passage, the reservoirs created by those dams warm temperatures and make the journey less safe from predators like birds and other fish.
By opening up the lower Snake, it would bring massive economic growth not just in those areas of the river, but it would also benefit the entire lower basin by lowering temperatures for lower river fish. There is opposition from irrigation, farming, barging and tourist ship industries. They have valid concerns, but the plan that Rep. Simpson is bringing will allocate money to create new opportunities for them to continue to flourish.
What are your thoughts? Comment below.
11 comments
It’s time to either make the hard decision to follow the Simpson plan and give the fish a chance to recover by removing the dams. Or just quit fighting over it and stop dumping money and water down a rabbit hole with stop cap measures. We have seen the results of these measure and they spell disaster for the fish and the economies tat depend on them. Once they are gone try are gone. We can kneel down let the clock run out or we can throw the hail Mary and take out the dams and there is a chance.
Thank you and everyone else that are pushing public opinion on removing the 4 dams on the Snake!
I agree are game department’s are miss manage and when there’s money aloted it always goes in to the general fund not good jay inselee
Anyone who thinks any solution other than breaching the dams will work is simply mistaken. Even BPA and COE admit breaching dams is best solution for saving Snake River fishes. 80+ PROFESSIONAL fisheries with hundreds of years of experience on THAT river w THOSE fish species support the dam breaches. The PATH Report, written more than a decade ago, supports the breaches. Dams are past their useful life and are costing $BILLIONS of taxpayer’s $$$ to maintain, to say nothing of the dredging costs from Lewiston to Ice Harbor. In addition, hydropower is advertised as “clean and green” but that is a falsehood when the cradle to grave maintenance metrics are considered.
New rail lines, new recreational activities, new energy sources and a myriad of other prospects exist if people will just pull their 1960s reactionary heads out of the sand and look at what is possible in the 2020s.
J
Yes Mr Ramseys ideas would improve the fishing industry his business. But what about the millions of acres of farmland that would go back to desert and the power the dams provide for hundreds of thousands of residents. Those destroying power sources coal,dams and even natural gas and nuclear dream of solar and wind power whose true costs are hidden in subsidies and those short comings are never discussed by those whose money and jobs are invested in them and their government grants. As in most things follow the money and we have heard to many phoney retraining and replacement programs that fail to deliver.California blackouts are the norm now and it seems trading fish for brownouts might not be acceptable to many. We certainly can do better but those with dreams usually fall short when reality kicks in and dreamers go on to another goal and we are stuck with their left overs. Dams hold back water for public use without the dams the spring runoff would dry up as we see empty dams in a drought lately. Those who feel they can can control climate change just might make it worse as if they had any control anyway. As the other poster said what benefit be specific which he cant. I fish for steelhead but the benefits to the economy have a short seasonal benefit power is year long.