Bush SPURNS SCIENCE EVERY DAY...this time at the expense of our salmon....
Bush Administration Spurns Science
and Sacrifices Wild Salmon Again
From the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition
Tuesday 08 June 2004
Portland, OR - Today, the Bonneville Power Administration, an agency of the Bush administration,
is expected to release a revised proposal to eliminate large portions of the salmon spill program in
August. Spill, a required action of the current federal plan to recover endangered salmon in the
Columbia and Snake rivers, is widely considered by scientists to be the safest means of getting young
ocean-bound salmon past the dams.
"Another week, another administration salmon policy that hurts the Northwest," said Pat Ford,
executive director, Save Our Wild Salmon. "Slashing summer spill spurns the unanimous scientific
advice of Northwest fishery agencies and Indian Tribes and continues a three year pattern of failure of
this administration to implement its own salmon plan."
The damage to salmon caused by stopping spill is well documented. During the 2001 drought, BPA
eliminated spill on the Columbia and Snake rivers to maximize hydroelectric generation. This caused
the deadliest juvenile salmon migration since the fish were listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Now, these salmon are returning as adults, and early figures indicate that the 2001 spill reduction and
drought had an impact on adult returns. Low returns of salmon that migrated downriver in 2001 are a
major reason spring chinook salmon returns were only 47 percent of what was expected.
"This is a scientifically irresponsible and indefensible decision," said Jim Martin, former chief of
fisheries, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and current member, National Wildlife Federation
Board of Directors. "In this year of low water flows and high river temperatures, salmon need spill more
than ever. Rather than heed that warning, BPA continues to disregard the hugely positive economic
impact spill has on fishing communities and takes the politically expedient route to pad the agencies'
bottom line."
The amended spill proposal, if implemented would leave young ocean-bound salmon (both listed and
unlisted) at greater risk of dying from dam turbines, predators or other factors. Cutting summer spill
also means that Snake River fall chinook will continue to be barged and trucked downstream in the
summer despite evidence that this practice reduces survival rates.
"Under this proposal, more young salmon would be sucked from the river, loaded onto barges and
trucks and moved downstream. The people of the Northwest know that salmon belong in rivers, not
barges and trucks," said Rob Masonis, Northwest regional director, American Rivers. "This is a
short-sighted move by the administration that ignores the long-term harm it will cause to wild salmon
and salmon-dependent communities. Healthy rivers and abundant wild salmon are essential to local
economies and our quality of life."
Moreover, the plan is expected to provide minimal, if any, benefits to Northwest ratepayers in the
form of lower electricity bills. BPA inappropriately counts as "cost" the loss of projected extra income
from the sales of excess hydropower to California.
"For the sake of running air conditioners in California, we would even further imperil a mainstay of
the Northwest's culture and economy," said Sara Patton, executive director, NW Energy Coalition.
"The alleged savings from curtailing spill to electric ratepayers are grossly overstated. We're talking
seven cents to a maximum of 66 cents per month for residential customers."
Salmon advocates expect that the amended spill proposal will suffer from the same fundamental
flaw as the earlier version - no credible evidence that harm caused by reducing spill can be offset.
BPA's new proposal is expected to contain a number of so-called "offsets," that are speculative at
best, and at worst, simply won't pass scientific muster. State, federal, and tribal salmon biologists
have raised numerous concerns about the efficacy of the proposed offsets, stating that for example,
some (such as the Hanford Reach Protection Program) are double-counting previous requirements.
Others (like the Northern Pikeminnow Removal Program increase) simply won't make up the
difference. These concerns do not appear to have been sufficiently addressed.
"The federal salmon plan has already been ruled illegal and by a federal court and yet the agencies
are doing even less than what is required by this insufficient plan," said Chase Davis, regional
representative, Sierra Club. "The Bush administration's complete ignorance of the scientific data is
astounding." |
