A3
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019
Washington state funds Snake River dam removal study
Money part of
state budget
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest Public
Broadcasting
Tucked into Washington’s
$52.4 billion operating bud-
get passed Sunday night by
the Legislature is controver-
sial funding for a stakeholder
group tasked with looking into
what would happen should the
four l ower Snake River dams
be removed or altered.
Supporters say the group
will make sure Washingto-
nian’s voices are heard in the
often contentious conversa-
tion around dam removal.
Critics say the effort is a waste
of time and money — too
similar to a discussion already
happening at the federal level.
Gov. Jay Inslee had asked
for $750,000, following the
recommendations of the
state’s Southern Resident
Orca Task Force, a group cre-
ated by the governor to fi nd
ways to save the orcas.
“Funding the Snake River
stakeholder discussions is
critical for Washington com-
munities and stakeholders to
assure their voice is heard and
interests addressed if the four
lower Snake River dams are
removed — which the sci-
ence shows is essential for the
salmon and orca,” Bill Arthur,
the Sierra Club’s salmon cam-
paign coordinator, said in a
statement.
Critics of Washington’s
dam removal study have said
the federal process is enough
and what the governor asked
to spend money on essentially
duplicates the federal govern-
ment’s assessment.
“Calls for additional pro-
cesses and forums that under-
mine the existing study
are counterproductive, not
based in science, and divert
resources from the creation
of a credible plan that is best
for salmon and the North-
west,” Kristin Meira, execu-
tive director of Pacifi c North-
west Waterways Association,
said in a statement.
U.S. District Court Judge
Michael Simon ordered fed-
eral regulators to take a hard
look at all options to protect
salmon, including the poten-
tial removal of the four dams
on the l ower Snake River.
Ken Balcomb/Center for Whale Research
Chinook salmon are an important source of food for whales.
“Despite billions of dol-
lars spent on these efforts,
the listed species continue to
be in a perilous state,” Simon
wrote. “The (Federal Colum-
bia River Power System)
remains a system that ‘cries
out’ for a new approach.”
That kicked off a years long
process, where federal agen-
cies began studying ways to
protect imperiled salmon on
the Columbia and Snake riv-
ers. A fi nal decision on that
study is expected in Septem-
ber 2020.
In an earlier statement,
Washington Republican U.S.
Reps. Dan Newhouse and
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
said spending taxpayer money
to look at removing or altering
the dams would be a waste.
“Congress has the sole
authority to authorize breach-
ing our federal dams, and
as representatives of e astern
Washington communities that
depend on the many benefi ts
they provide, breaching them
is out of the question. We
commit to do everything in
our power to save our dams,”
the representatives said in the
joint statement.
At a salmon conference in
Boise in April , Michael Garr-
ity said there’s “new urgency”
around these issues in the
state because of the connec-
tion between salmon and orca
health. Garrity is the Colum-
bia River and w ater p olicy
mManager for the Washing-
ton Department of Fish &
Wildlife.
“There’s a call for explor-
ing the social and economic
benefi ts of breaching the
l ower Snake River dams,”
Garrity said during a panel.
At the same conference,
U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson,
R-Idaho, said he has started
to ask “what if” questions,
looking more deeply at what
should happen if the dams
are removed or altered. What
happens to Lewiston, the most
inland port in the West ? What
happens to farmers? How do
growers transport their grains?
“There are an awful lot
of questions that have to be
asked, because you need to
address these if you are going
to solve this problem,” Simp-
son said.
Simpson challenged the
group to come together to
save salmon. Conservation
groups are now drawing com-
parisons to that challenge,
with the funding of Washing-
ton’s stakeholder task force.
“We are encouraged to
see leadership emerging in
both states. The problems fac-
ing salmon, orca and energy
in the Northwest can’t wait,”
said Sam Mace, i nland North-
west program director for the
Save Our Wild Salmon Coali-
tion, in a statement.
The funding ask was the
result of recommendations
from the Southern Resident
Orca Task Force. The whales
mainly feed on C hinook
salmon. Their population has
dropped to 74 orcas, as they
face threats from a dwin-
dling food supply, water pol-
lution and vessel noise. The
task force did not recommend
breaching the dams.
In the budget, the stake-
holder forum funding will
be split between fi scal years
2020 and 2021.
“Should it be determined
that it’s time for the dams to
be removed, then communi-
ties must have the opportunity
to collaboratively develop a
transition plan to ensure the
region’s needs will continue
to be met. We must insist on
a path forward that works
for salmon and people,” said
Wendy McDermott, Puget
Sound and Columbia Basin
director of American Rivers,
in a statement.
Washington state lawmakers try to keep bridge replacement talks alive
Set aside
$35 million
for I-5 project
By LAUREN DAKE
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Before the Washington
state Legislature adjourned ,
lawmakers passed a trans-
portation budget. And inside
the $9.8 billion two-year
spending plan was $35 mil-
lion dedicated to renewed
efforts to replace the Inter-
state 5 bridge.
The money will be used
to open and operate an Inter-
state-5 bridge project offi ce
and help fund design work.
“It’s time to put our
money where our mouth is
and demonstrate how this
process differs from past
practices,”
Washington
state Sen. Annette Cleve-
land, D-Vancouver, said in a
statement.
Gov. Kate Brown, who
has been in talks with Wash-
ington Gov. Jay Inslee about
reviving a plan to replace
the aging bridge, said Ore-
gon is ready to join their
counterparts across the river.
“Replacing the Inter-
state Bridge is critical to the
economies and communities
of both Oregon and Wash-
ington,” Brown said in a
statement.
Oregon’s Department of
Transportation will have a
staff member join the new
offi ce and work with Wash-
ington to start the process
of reviewing what work
might still be relevant from
the defunct Columbia River
Crossing project.
The money, however, is
a pittance compared to the
overall cost of planning and
building a bridge.
Lawmakers in Oregon
remain reluctant to engage
with their Washington coun-
terparts after Washington
torpedoed the approximate
$3 billion Columbia River
Crossing project in 2013.
An Oregon-only effort to
replace the bridge connect-
ing Portland to Vancouver
fi zzled a year later.
Since then, talk of replac-
ing the 100-year-old bridge
has been a divisive topic. It’s
taken years for Washington
lawmakers to prove to their
Oregon counterparts they
are committed to the effort.
And
bridge
fatigue
remains strong.
Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Eu-
gene, who chairs the Senate
Transportation Committee,
chuckled when he heard the
$35 million fi gure.
“We’ll let them study it,”
Beyer said of Washington
lawmakers.
Later, he added, “If they
want to talk, we’ll talk.
But we won’t put the time
and money into it. It’s their
turn.”
The new effort could,
however, stave off the fed-
eral government from recall-
ing a chunk of money for
the Columbia River Cross-
ing. Both states must show
the federal government they
are making progress on the
project or Oregon would
owe about $93 million and
Washington would owe $54
million.
Initially, it appeared as
though Washington might
pass a spending bill that
included $450 million for
the Interstate 5 bridge proj-
ect, but the measure didn’t
pass the Legislature.
One of the sticking points
in the last project was over
light rail. Residents in s outh-
west Washington have been
vocally opposed to light rail,
while political leaders in
both states have maintained
it should be part of any new
bridge.
Brown has called the
existing bridge over the
Columbia River a “seismic
risk, a freight bottleneck, a
barrier to effective public
transportation and a source
of some of the worst grid-
lock in the nation.”
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Main St.
Market
Family
503-861-2271
www.mainstselect.com
191 S. Main Ave., Warrenton
facebook.com/MainStMarket
3
2 $
for
1/2 gal
Cut & Wrapped free
1 .
$
78
lb
+ deposit
FORT GEORGE
VORTEX OR
CAVATICA
WHOLE BONELESS
BEEF BOTTOM
ROUND
2 .
$
78
lb
8. 4
$ 98
16oz
packs
Fort
George
Family
Bennett
Farms
Zweifel
Farms
WHOLE BONELESS
PORK LOIN
3.
4. 98
BENNETT FARMS
GLASS BOTTLE MILK $
Chocolate
ZWEIFEL CAGE
FREE EGGS
1 Dozen
$ 98 + deposit
TILLAMOOK
ICE CREAM
2 $
for
7