Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2018)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018 editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager GUEST COLUMN Orcas, fishermen are both endangered species the Bonneville Power Administration often has to pay California and other states to take it! In short, as power producers, the four lower Snake River dams are now economically obsolete. The dams’ agriculture transportation func- tions are also replaceable. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data show barge shipping on the lower Snake has been in steady decline since at least 2000, so much so that, under Corps’ criteria, the lower Snake would today be clas- sified as a “low use” waterway. Today, the only thing shipped by barge on the lower Snake waterway is grain, chiefly wheat. But increasingly, wheat is being trans- ported by rail. In fact, because of increased rail efficiency, more wheat is going to market by train every year. It is only massive subsidies that keep barge shipments economically viable at all. Removing the lower Snake River dams would require some reinvestment in rail capac- ity, but doing so would improve efficiency even more. It could even cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the distance grain has to be moved by truck, which is both costly and highly polluting. And grain could still be moved by barge on the Columbia from the Tri- Cities to Portland, an economic opportunity for the Tri-Cities, an area that was a booming grain shipment port before the Snake River dams were built in the 1960s — and could be again. Those opposing restoring the lower Snake River often cite irrigation and flood control in defending the dams. But irrigation from the lower Snake only serves 13 farms, all around Ice Harbor dam, irrigation that could be easily maintained by modifying the current system to include stronger pumps and longer pipes, a simple plumbing problem. And, because the lower Snake River dams have no water storage capacity, they play no significant role in flood control. So where does this leave us? As a region, do we continue failed policies that push the orcas, and salmon fishermen and their com- munities, further toward extinction? Or do we want to do something to save them both? The message couldn’t be clearer: it is past time for bold action to bring back the Chinook salmon that sustain mother orcas and their pods as well as salmon-dependent human communities. And the biggest champions should be salmon fishermen, sport and com- mercial alike, who depend on bringing back the same Chinook the orcas so desperately need. Many fishermen are already at the forefront of salmon restoration efforts, through orga- nizations like Salmon for All and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. But we’re at a tipping point. If we don’t take steps like removing the lower Snake River dams soon, we risk losing our orcas as well as our own salmon heritage and the lives, com- munities, cultures and jobs salmon support. It’s time we all raised our voices to insist that we can restore the Snake River, find ways to meet the legitimate needs of those who also depend on it, whether for power or irrigation, and bring back our salmon. Please be part of that effort. Glen Spain is the northwest regional direc- tor of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fish- ermen’s Associations, a trade association for commercial fishing families on the West Coast. about why Brown chose secrecy, but the fact remains: Secrecy and good government do not go hand in hand. Oregon went through a serious round of prison reform in 2013. Lawmakers reduced the sentences for some property crimes, let some low-risk offenders leave prison early and put money into community corrections programs that would deal with some offenders at the county level. Statewide discussion of the cost of the prison system and ways to contain its growth began at least two years before the 2013 Legislature acted. There were newspaper stories about the money required to keep up with prison population growth and how many more prisons would be needed as a result. Others centered on whether the state’s incarceration policies, heavy on keeping offenders out of jail, worked. We’ve had almost none of that in 2018, or in 2017. Nor do we know exactly what’s being proposed, or why. We do know some things. Oregon and its counties spend a higher percentage of revenues on corrections than most states, and that’s, in part, because we lock up more juvenile offenders than most states do. It may be that Oregon’s corrections system is, again, ripe for reform. If so, Oregonians need to know what’s wrong and why what is being considered will improve the situation. More importantly, we need to be part of any discussion about proposed changes and that discussion needs to begin now, not after the Legislature convenes. Four low-value Snake River dams should be removed rcas and commercial salmon fishermen share a common crisis — both need more adult Chinook salmon to return to the Columbia River; orcas to avoid starva- tion, fishermen to sustain their livelihoods and families. Northwest orcas are starving and their pop- ulation is declining — only 74 remain, in large part because their primary prey, Chinook salmon, have been pushed by dams, dewa- tering and habitat destruction to near extinction almost everywhere. Salmon fishermen know GLEN this because for years, they SPAIN too have seen reduced catches, reduced fishing seasons and spreading closures. Salmon fish- ermen too are now effectively an endangered species, and for the same reasons as orcas — their Chinook salmon prey are rapidly disappearing. So, when six of the world’s leading orca scientists banded together recently and wrote to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery Task Force to share their conclusion that restoring Snake River spring Chinook is critical to preventing orca extinction, salmon fishermen from Astoria, Ilwaco and other coastal communities took note. These scientists are talking about their futures as well. Since the mid-1990s, salmon scientists have said the single biggest step we can take to restore healthy salmon runs in the Snake River is to remove four low-value, high-cost dams on the lower river above its confluence with the Columbia. This step has been vigorously opposed by those who benefit from status quo dam operations. But just as our understanding of the con- nection between orcas and Chinook salmon from the Columbia has evolved, so too has our understanding of the role these four dams play in damaging our regional salmon economy. We now know the region could bypass these four obsolete dams and still thrive. A recent analysis by Energy Strategies, a Utah-based consulting firm that primarily O AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios Water moves through a spillway of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash. ‘It’s time we all raised our voices to insist that we can restore the Snake River, find ways to meet the legitimate needs of those who also depend on it, whether for power or irrigation, and bring back our salmon. Please be part of that effort.’ works for utilities, concluded that the power these four dams combined produce could read- ily be replaced with clean energy and conser- vation, with little or no increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and at a low cost to consumers — about $1.25 per month on the average bill. The economic costs of these lower Snake River dams, in terms of thousands of lost salmon-based jobs (in Astoria and elsewhere), costs the region staggeringly more. Once, the hydropower produced by the four lower Snake River dams was useful and valu- able. But over the past 17 years, the average annual 943 megawatts these dams produced was actually “surplus power,” amounting to less than 4 percent of the total power generated from the Federal Power System, which today generates a 17 percent energy surplus. The Northwest is so awash with surplus power that it can often be sold only at a net loss. In other words, instead of making money on it, OTHER VIEWS Excerpts from Oregon newspaper editorials Mail Tribune, on the need for firefighting helicopters in wildfire season ith firefighting resources spread thin around the West in a big fire year, luck and timing can make all the difference. If high-capacity helicopters happen to be here and available when a major lightning storm hammers Southern Oregon, that’s good. If those helicopters already have been committed to big fires burning else- where, that’s not so good. So it only makes sense that local officials should explore ways to procure our own ded- icated aircraft, so they’re ready and waiting to be called on to attack fires before they have a chance to grow into conflagrations. Jackson County commissioners are consid- ering spending $2 million to station two Type 1 helicopters here during fire season. Type 1 helicopters are capable of hauling and drop- ping up to 3,000 gallons of water or retardant at a time. By comparison, Type 2 choppers carry hundreds of gallons. As luck and timing would have it, two Type 1 helicopters were standing by at the Ashland airport July 15 after working the Klamathon fire earlier in the month. So when a lightning storm ignited 145 new fires, those aircraft were able to attack many of them right away. Dave Larson, southwest district forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry, says there is no doubt that the presence of those aircraft meant fewer of those fires became big fires, but he wants a detailed study of the past 15 fire seasons before local officials lobby for state funding. It’s possible that one Type 1 helicopter and three Type 2 choppers might be a more effective mix for initial attack. That’s a prudent step, but not if it means a delay in seeking funding. The 2019 Legislature convenes Jan. 22, and lawmakers will be adopting the next two-year state budget. As a practical matter, $2 million is not a great deal of money, considering ODF spent $60 million fighting fires in this region this year. And it’s a bargain if dedicated aircraft reduce overall firefighting costs by keeping fires small. W Bend Bulletin, on not keeping reforms secret F ortunately for Oregonians, it can be difficult to keep secrets in Salem. Thus, news that state lawmakers might be asked to reduce prison sentences next year was leaked to The Oregonian, despite Gov. Kate Brown’s attempts to keep the matter secret. In fact, Brown asked state agencies to keep their proposals for the 2019 session of the Legislature secret until after the election. Usually, legislative concepts, as they’re called, are made public by the end of October. You may draw your own conclusions