Lost Salmon

An editorial in the April 30th edition of the Idaho Statesman says it all. As of Thursday, April 27, 2006, the number of adult chinook salmon making it past the last dam on the lower Snake River on their way to spawn was...one. One.

That is why much of the salmon debate centers on removing portions of Lower Granite and three other lower Snake River dams. Many biologists say dam breaching offers salmon their best and perhaps only chance at recovery, since it allows more young salmon to migrate to the Pacific. And that's one reason the Statesman has supported breaching since 1997.

I'll be talking a lot in a future post about the bizarre performance of George Bush's environmental minion, James Connaughton on the issue of wild salmon. But for now, let us pause for a moment and ponder the meaning of a multi-million salmon run on the Snake River, almost within living memory, reduced to this.