Ag stakeholders reject White House draft reports on (Columbia/Snake) dam breaching, Capital Press 7/13/22. "...Only Congress has the authority to order the dams to be removed," said Sean Ellis, a spokesman for the Idaho Farm Bureau. "The president can have his own opinion on the matter, but Congress will be the one deciding..." KBC NOTE: In the case of Klamath River hydroelectric dams, Congress did not support dam destruction because the Klamath and Siskiyou counties overwhelmingly rejected the idea, so the states of California and Oregon bypassed our Congressional representatives and promised taxpayer money to support dam destruction, defying the will of the constituents. Their goal is hoped-for benefits to salmon and environment despite the economic and environmental devastation caused by 20 million cubic yards of sediment behind the dams decimating any fish or habitat.

Dams are critical for reliable energy grid in Pacific Northwest, Capital Press commentary by Rep. DAN NEWHOUSE 6/9/22.

Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau President speaks on Snake River dams, climate and other crucial farm issues, Capital Press 9/9/21. "...Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has called for tearing out the dams, while most of the region’s farmers adamantly oppose it. They say the dams provide irrigation water, electricity and make the river navigable for the huge barges transporting wheat downriver to export terminals on the Columbia River...'Duvall: I had no idea that 10% of all U.S. agricultural exports went down that river, and I had absolutely no idea of the extent they went to to make sure that salmon could come up the river, and the juvenile fish could return back out to the ocean.' "

Why we support keeping the Snake River dams, Guest View by Jeff Van Pevenage, August 6, 2021, Capital Press. "Removing the Lower Snake River dams as part of Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson’s $33.5 billion framework doesn’t promise to bring back Idaho’s salmon...The Columbia River System is the nation’s single largest wheat export gateway, transporting 50% of all U.S. wheat to markets overseas. The Northwest Infrastructure Proposal will slow international trade including the distribution of wheat, soy, corn, wood, autos, mineral bulks and cruise tourism, and has the potential to eradicate the 40,000 local jobs that are dependent on this trade...The removal of the dams will cause transportation methods to shift towards truck and rail, creating greater instability in freight costs, and exposing farmers to potentially higher transportation costs for grain shipments to destination markets, particularly during the fall when corn and soybean shipments from the Midwest are heavy."

Columbia-Snake River dam breaching opponents preparing resolution, Lewiston Tribune 3/5/2021. “no amount of money can replace the lifestyle and economies of the communities” that depend on the dams. It describes dam-breaching as an “idealistic” and “illogical” approach to salmon recovery that “flies in the face of reality.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s $33.5 billion plan to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River would hurt the reliability of the region’s power grid and increase rates, a representative of a regional power company says. Capital Press 3/2/2021. "U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s $33.5 billion plan to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River would hurt the reliability of the region’s power grid and increase rates, a representative of a regional power company says...Roughly 83% of the region’s power is generated by dams, and 11% by nuclear generators...Breaching the four dams would remove 1,000 megawatts of peak capacity from the power grid...One thousand megawatts can power 800,000 homes...Using wind and solar power as the primary sources of energy would raise utility costs, the cost of agricultural inputs and outputs and shipping, and even the cost of removing the dams, Barth said..."

Study finds salmon survival rates same with, without dams, Capital Press 11/13/2020. "Breaching the Snake River dams won’t necessarily improve the survival rate of chinook salmon, because returns of the fish appear to be similar everywhere, including areas with pristine freshwater habitats, a new study finds."

Feds affirm opposition to breaching Snake River dams, Capital Press 7/31/2020. " (breaching the dams) would damage the federal system’s other uses, such as flood control, irrigation, navigation, recreation and electricity generation...If the four dams were gone, greenhouse gas emissions would increase, according to the government report. Natural gas-fired power plants would have to ramp up, unless more expensive and less reliable wind and solar power sources were built.Farmers would be forced to move crops, mostly wheat, by trucks and trains. Transportation costs for wheat farmers would increase 10% to 33%, the report estimates. Irrigation water would be cut off for 48,000 acres, costing farmers $460 million a year in lost sales and their employees $232 million in lost wages, according to the report..."

Feds reject breaching Snake River dams, Capital Press 2/28/2020

Oregon governor calls for breaching 4 Snake River dams, H&N 2/16/20. "...The dams generate electricity, provide some irrigation and flood control and allow barges to operate all the way to Lewiston, Idaho..."
Columbia-Snake River litigation has 90,000-plus acres in balance, Fruit Growers News 1/24/20

PNWA Press Release - Study: U.S. would lose over $2.3 billion by breaching lower Snake River dams. Loss of dams would also significantly increase carbon emissions and impacts to fragile economies 1/6/2020.

Study Looks at Benefits and Liabilities of Snake River Dams, Intermountain Farm and Ranch 1/3/2020.

Court orders EPA to write temperature control plans for Columbia, Snake, Capital Press 12/27/19. "The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to intensify the ongoing debate over breaching four Lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington to increase salmon and steelhead runs...The plaintiffs...Columbia Riverkeeper, Snake River Waterkeeper, Idaho Rivers United, the (IFFR) Institute for Fisheries Resources and  (PCFFA)Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.."
KBC NOTE: Coincidently PCFFA and it spinoff IFFR, and Riverkeepers are the litigants who strategically constantly sued to downsize Klamath agriculture and destroy the Klamath River dams.

Pacific Northwest tribes: Remove Columbia River dams, H&N 10/15/19.
Former international clay-core dam designer Stephen Koshy extensively studied the imminent catastrophic collapse of the Klamath River clay-core dams if they were to be removed, and also the Columbia River dams:  Stephen Koshy Page: Clay-Core Dam Engineer Stephen Koshy's scientific reports, letters, and government correspondence regarding his prediction of the imminent catastrophic collapse if the Klamath Hydroelectric Dams are destroyed.

Inslee OKs funding to study removal of Snake River dams, KATU 2 5/21/19

Salmon-eating sea lions targeted at Columbia River dam, H&N 5/5/19.

< This March 2019 photo was taken a few miles from the mouth of the Klamath River by KBC News. From Google: "Another estimate, based on California sea lions' metabolic needs, suggests that 100 animals feeding in that area consume at least 13,000 salmon each spring."

Republican lawmakers are upset with a federal judge's order to spill water that could be saved for other uses from four Snake River dams to help speed migrating salmon to the Pacific Ocean, US News, posted to KBC 4/15/18. "The four dams, built in the 1960s and 1970s, provide hydropower, flood control, navigation, irrigation and recreation benefits, supporters say. But the giant dams are also blamed for killing wild salmon, an iconic species in the Northwest."
Species battle pits protected sea lions against fragile fish 3/23/18. " the mammals’ numbers dropped dramatically but have rebounded from 30,000 in the late 1960s to about 300,000 today due to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act...Last winter, a record-low 512 wild winter steelhead completed the journey, said Shaun Clements, the state wildlife agency’s senior policy adviser. Less than 30 years ago, that number was more than 15,000...Of all the adults that are returning to the falls here, a quarter of them are getting eaten.”

Idaho tribes want fish passage above Snake River dams, Capital Press KBC 3/28/18.  "Biologists have said the Snake River above the dams is so degraded it couldn’t support salmon and steelhead without significant rehabilitation."

Dam removal across the West a growing concern, H&N plus Mallam's correction 12/4/16. "Local commissioners are drafting a letter in opposition to the potential removal of dams within the Columbia River Basin following their own frustrations with Klamath River dam removal...within the KBRA closed door meetings, the dam removal conversations did not focus only on the 4 lower dams on the Klamath River. The conversations widened periodically to include the need for the Keno Dam to be removed, and then expand dam removal even farther to include the Columbia and Snake River Dams.

Scientists call for breaching (Snake River) dams to save Puget Sound orcas, H&N 10/30/16
Feds asking public to weigh in on breaching Snake River dams, found on This West is Our West from Spokesman Review, posted to KBC 10/30/16.

$700M spent on habitat restoration - Efforts focus on projects in the Columbia River Basin, H&N, posted to KBC 6/24/15. " ...I’m not going to say it’s a qualified success, because not every project has a qualified benefit,” said Chris Jordan, a NOAA research scientist who oversees the largest research and monitoring project under the plan...So even if you put a lot of money into restoring an aspect of habitat, you sometimes don’t see any fish response"

*Hundreds of cormorants shot to protect Columbia salmon, H&N 5/29/15
*Oregon Senator Doug Whitsett 6/13/13 Newsletter: Thousands of fish-eating Cormorants eating baby suckers? "What is NOT commonly known is that the second largest nesting colony of Double Crested Cormorants in the Western United States and Canada is located on Upper Klamath Lake. There may be as many as six thousand breeding pairs of these birds reproducing in the Upper Klamath Basin...When will the biologists look to see if the immense population of Double Crested Cormorants living in the Upper Klamath Basin may be simply eating the young endangered suckers?"

(Columbia-Snake River) Irrigator group sues Bureau of Reclamation, Capital Press, posted to KBC 5/7/15. "...the agency “arbitrarily delayed and blocked” a new water service contract for a privately funded $42 million pipeline to deliver surface water east from the East Low Canal to roughly 14,000 acres of farmland..."

Corps seeking comment on plans to again reduce Caspian Tern nesting area on East Sand Island, Due Feb 21, 2014, CBB 1/24/14. “In 2013, at 1.58 acres of nesting habitat on East Sand Island, the number of nesting pairs was near 7,600 and predation on juvenile salmon was near 4.7 million...“In 2013, approximately 680 Caspian terns moved from East Sand Island to some of the constructed inland sites, including Summer Lake, Malheur Lake, Crump Lake, Sheepy Lake, and Tule Lake.” KBC NOTE: These fish predators eat baby fish and were relocated to Tule Lake and Klamath refuges. Our baby suckers are mysteriously vanishing. 100,000 acres of irrigation water were shut off above the Klamath Project because Indians demanded it due to low juvenile sucker counts, claiming more water in the lake makes more suckers. Write comments regarding Columbia building Caspian Tern habitat, terns killed millions of juvenile salmon so they relocated them here, and plan to relocate more. http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Media/Announcements/tabid/1887/Article/21181/draft-ea-caspian-tern-nesting-habitat-reduction-east-sand-island.aspx

With release of new salmon biop, Columbia Basin Stakeholders still divided over federal approach, CBB 1/24/14. "U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., says that “with last year’s record-breaking salmon runs, it’s safe to say that salmon and hydropower dams can and do co-exist.”

New Columbia fish plan like others.  Emphasis remains on better habitat, not activists’ dam removal proposals, H&N, posted to KBC 1/18/14. “More than 1 million fall chinook salmon returned to spawn last year, the highest numbers since Bonneville Dam opened in 1938,...the new plan does not consider the possibility of breaching dams or increasing spill, because officials say such actions aren’t needed."

Oregon draft plan for managing non-listed coastal salmon, steelhead seeks hatchery/wild balance, CBB 1/17/14

Columbia and Klamath River Dam Facts, Senator Doug Whitsett 9/27/13. "...Advocates have long stated that the dams must come out in order to reestablish previous salmon numbers. Yet 2012 saw one of the largest, if not the largest Chinook salmon run ever recorded on the Klamath River. This year, salmon numbers are shaping up to surpass that record. The dams are still in the River and the water quality in the River has not changed. .."

CBB 9/27/13: Columbia River Sub-Basin Study Suggests Dams Buffer Region From Climate Change Impacts, Most Fall Chinook At Mouth Of Columbia Since 1940s, Over A Million Fish Spurring Record Fall Chinook Catch Rates; Tribes See Best Zone 6 Harvest Back To 1938, more...

Columbia Basin Bulletin Fish and Wildlife news 9/27/12: projected chinook return strong, sea lion legal briefs, wolf packs targeting livestock being eliminated in Wash., steelhead, cougars, fish consumption, ...

Columbia Basin Bulletin 6/8/12. Mining, salmon runs, salmon reintroduction, Tribes balancing platform fishing With gill-netting

Columbia Basin Bulletin 4/27/12. "‘I Think We Need To Take Those Dams Down’: Judge Redden’s Interview Comments Stir Reaction," "Gorge Hatcheries Release 10 Million Plus Juvenile Salmon Past Week; More Transferred For Recovery Programs,"

* Hastings' Statement on Judge Redden's Admitted Bias to Destroy Snake River Dams, followed by: Former salmon judge: Snake dams should come down  4/26/12
* Dr. Stephen Koshy's letters of warning regarding Snake River Dam destruction
* Simplified 3-page letter to Siskiyou County legal counsel Thomas P Guarino from scientist Stephen Koshy on catastrophic Klamath dam collapse. Koshy called and explained to KBC News that there will be a catastrophic collapse if Klamath dams are destroyed, costing lives and at least $5 billion to clean up. He sent his detailed warning to the Bureau of Reclamation but they did not respond. 4/15/12.

Columbia Basin Bulletin, posted to KBC 4/14/12: Sea Lion trapping, Spring Chinook, BOR hydropower generation...

Columbia Basin Bulletin 3/30/12

Columbia Basin Bulletin 2/10/12.

Columbia Basin Bulletin 1/27/12

Columbia Basin Bulletin 1/13/12

Columbia 'Basin Bulletin 12/16/11.

How government destroyed science in Columbia River Dam decisionmaking, by James Buchal, posted to KBC 12/11/11

Columbia Basin Bulletin fish and wildlife news 12/9/11.
*FERC Calls BPA’s High Water/Wind Power Cutoff Rule Discriminatory
*Oregon Elections Division Certifies Two Proposed Non-Indian Gill-Net Ban Initiative Titles
*More

Judge James Redden to step down after a decade on the Northwest's biggest salmon lawsuit, Oregonian, posted to KBC  11/25/11

Judge Redden To Step Down, OPB 11/23/11

Columbia Basin Bulletin / Fish and Wildlife News 11/18/11

Columbia Basin Bulletin, posted to KBC 11/11/11. * Researchers Study How White Salmon River Responds To Dam Breaching; Right Now ‘Lots Of Mud.'  “It’s a beautiful natural experiment,” Wilcox said of the opportunity to monitor how the river moves large pulses of sediment that have the potential to snuff out aquatic life...It was estimated that between 1.6 million to 2.2 million cubic yards of sediment would be discharged into the White Salmon River immediately following tunnel’s opening."

Columbia Basin fish and wildlife bulletin 11/4/11.

Columbia Basin Bulletin 10/28/11. Some articles include Condit Dam demolition and video, sea lion removal, salmon virus threat investigation, wolves, ...

Columbia Basin Bulletin 10/14/11, Fish and Wildlife News.

Columbia Basin Bulletin, posted to KBC 9/25/11

Dam removal in Washington part of growing movement, Banger Daily News, posted to KBC 9/18/11. "What once seemed radical is now mainstream,” said American Rivers President Bob Irvin, whose group has advocated dam removal for environmental reasons. “All of these are experiments in how nature can restore itself, and the Elwha is the biggest example of that.” The pace of removal has quickened, with 241 dams demolished between 2006 and 2010, a more than 40 percent increase over the previous five years...A drumbeat of litigation by tribes and environmental groups has pushed federal officials to dismantle some dams that otherwise would have remained in place. (KBC NOTE: American Rivers is an exclusive KBRA stakeholder voting member. George Soros helps fund Earthjustice, who pays for American Rivers attorney fees. Earthjustice also pays the bills for other environmental groups on the KBRA "stakeholder" voting members, and also those opposed, yet all in the same coalitions: PCFFA, Klamath Wildlands, Karuk Tribe, Oregon Wild, ....." Some are still in litigation against Klamath Basin irrigators. American Rivers and many KBRA voting "stakeholders" and opposing groups are in the coalition to destroy the Snake and Colombia River dams.

Columbia Basin Bulletin 9/16/11: Sea Lion removal, record salmon runs on Snake, strong Chinook and Coho, etc

Close, but No Cigar: More Work Needed on Salmon and the Columbia Hydro System, Martenlaw August 9, 2011. KBC NOTE: many same environmental groups in the coalition with the agenda of destroying the Columbia and Snake River hydrodams are voting members on the KBRA.

Study Downgrades Hydroelectric Reservoirs’ Impact On Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Columbia Basin Bulletin, posted to KBC 8/7/11

Idaho Plans Study Of Building Dam/Reservoir On Weiser River; Cites Salmon Recovery Benefits, CBB, posted to KBC 8/7/11

Is Snake River Dam Removal Back? This week's court ruling suggests another look be taken at saving Northwest salmon by breaching dams, New West, posted to KBC 8/7/11. KBC NOTE: George Soros-supported radical environmental groups bent on demolishing Western hydro-dams, Save Our Wild Salmon. Glen Spain, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen, is on Wild Salmon Board of Directors, and is an author of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, demanding removal of Klamath River Dams.  Wild Salmon is focused on destroying Snake River and Columbia Basin dams. Groups such as "Zero Population Growth" are in their coalition, along with several environmental groups / voting members in the KBRA / Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.

Dam Removal and Today's Ruling by Judge Redden, 8/2/11

Columbia Basin Bulletin Fish and Wildlife News, posted to KBC 1/26/11. "NOAA Won’t Ask For Rehearing On Ninth Circuit’s Sea Lion Removal Ruling"

PacifiCorp, counties reach dam deal, H&N, posted to KBC 11/14/10. "Opponents of the dam removal had argued for years that local residents had been excluded from negotiations."

Columbia Basin Bulletin 11/5/10, articles on salmon BiOps, steelhead, sea lion report, red trout survey, wild coho, ...

Columbia Basin Bulletin Fish and Wildlife News (sea lion predation, salmon, wildlife habitat, fish farming, ...10/29/10

Columbia Basin Bulletin Oct 22, 2010: Snake River Fall Chinook Return To Lower Granite Shattering Records

Latest Forecast Predicts Spring Chinook Return At 340,000 Fish; Second Best On Record, Columbia Basin Bulletin 5/21/10

Columbia Basin Bulletin 2/26/10, "Sea Lions Snacking On Sturgeon, Last Year's Huge Fall Chinook Jack Return Brings Predictions Of Big Run This Year,  Higher Return Of Sacramento River Fall Chinook, Revise Critical Habitat For Bull Trout, Northwest Tribes Receive $1.3 Million..."

Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife bulletin, 2/12/10

Columbia Basin Bulletin 2/5/10
* Researchers In January Observe Increased Predation by Stellar Sea Lions On White Sturgeon
* Season's First Chinook Caught As Vanguard Of Expected Return Of 550,000 'Springers'
*  Tribes Praise Proposed Increase In Funding For Treaty Rights-Based Natural Resource Protection

Columbia Basin Bulletin Fish and Wildlife 11/20/09

Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin 8/28/09

Columbia Basin Bulletin 8/21/09
* 2009 Summer Steelhead Run Approaching 400,000 Fish, Third Best Return In 70 Years
http://www.cbbulletin.com/351361.aspx
* Fall Chinook, Coho Returns Ahead Of 10-year Average; Tribal Commercial Dates Set
http://www.cbbulletin.com/351357.aspx
* NOAA: July Showed Warmest Global Ocean Surface Temperatures On Record
http://www.cbbulletin.com/351350.aspx

Harvest Managers Predict Largest Snake River Fall Chinook Run In Four Decades, August 14, 2009 Fish and Wildlife Columbia Basin Bulletin. More Columbia Basin fish news at: http://www.cbbulletin.com/

Record-breaking Summer Steelhead Counts At Bonneville Dam; CB Bulletin 8/14/09

Salmon and Hydro, An Account of Litigation over Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinions for Salmon and Steelhead, 1991-2009, February 2009 by CB Bulletin

Preseason Run Forecasts Show Improved Coho, Fall Chinook Numbers For This Year, Columbia Basin Bulletin February 20, 2009

NPCC Heads To Finish Line In Approving New Regional Fish & Wildlife Program Columbia Basin Bulletin, January 16, 2009 

Fall Chinook Catch Rates Highest Since the 1980s; Record 14, 913 Fish Pass Dam In One Day, August 28, 2008   Columbia Basin Bulletin