Wednesday, April 27, 2022
A4
OPINION
OTHER VIEWS
Another
voice weighs
in on Snake
River dams
A
n obscure division within the
Office of the President now
wants to weigh in on the fate of
four dams on the lower Snake River.
Another voice that appears to be lean-
ing toward removing the dams.
In a March 28 blog post, the White
House Council on Environmental Qual-
ity outlined its efforts to study breach-
ing the dams. Those efforts included a
March 21 “Nation to Nation” meeting
between federal agencies and leaders of
the Tribes of the Columbia River Basin.
The Council on Environmental Qual-
ity was established during the Nixon
administration under the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act. According to the
council’s website, it is charged with coor-
dinating “the federal government’s efforts
to improve, preserve and protect Amer-
ica’s public health and environment.”
According to the blog, the council last
fall convened leaders from the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclama-
tion, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration, Army Corps of Engineers and
the Bonneville Power Administration.
The group will “build on existing anal-
yses to identify a durable path forward
that ensures a clean energy future, sup-
ports local and regional economies, and
restores ecosystem function, while hon-
oring longstanding commitments to
Tribal Nations,” the blog states.
“We cannot continue business as
usual. Doing the right thing for salmon,
Tribal Nations, and communities can
bring us together. It is time for effec-
tive, creative solutions,” the blog states.
The fix might be in.
“We heard calls to support breach-
ing the four dams on the lower Snake
River to restore a more natural flow, also
about the need to replace the services pro-
vided by those dams, and recognition that
such a step would require congressio-
nal action,” the blog post reads. “We were
asked to consider the Basin holistically
because of its inherent interconnectedness.”
OK. Let’s consider the farmers and
other people who depend on the river.
The dams in southeast Washing-
ton generate electricity and allow farm-
ers to move grain by barge down the
Columbia River’s main tributary.
Without the dams, the river would be
too shallow to barge wheat and other farm
goods the roughly 100 miles between
Lewiston, Idaho, and the Tri-Cities. Lake
Sacajawea, a reservoir created by Ice Har-
bor Dam, irrigates 47,000 acres. The loss
of electricity generated by the dams would
increase the cost of pumping groundwater.
The agriculture and shipping com-
munities remain wary of discus-
sions on the fate of the dams.
“We continue to be engaged with the
administration at CEQ,” Michelle Hen-
nings, executive director of the Washing-
ton Association of Wheat Growers, said.
“Looking at the blog, we would have liked
to see more focus on the impact this would
have had on farmers across the country.”
Removing the dams would come at the
expense of the entire region that depends on
low-cost and reliable electricity the dams
provide and the livelihoods of farmers, barge
operators, deck hands, dock workers in the
region and the vendors who support them.
It continues to be a bad idea.
— Capital Press
LETTER to the EDITOR
More reasons to not
jump on ‘Greater
Idaho bandwagon’
David Hayslip’s letter detailing reasons
for not jumping on the Greater Idaho band-
wagon was spot on. I would like to add a
couple of more reasons to think about.
First, though I can understand the dislike
for the way things are in the Willamette Val-
ley, one must realize their contribution to the
Oregon tax base and its significant impact
on the statewide economy. Are you really
willing to give that up? Perhaps it would be
better to find solutions to problems.
CONTACT your REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
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Bill Hansell, District 29
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Salem, OR 97301
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Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
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REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
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Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884
VOLUME 134
Second, are you willing to have your
minimum wage drop from $12.50 an hour
to $7.25? I can’t imagine the hardship that
would put on people.
This movement may be good for discus-
sion over a few beers, but seriously?
Jeff Irish
Enterprise
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