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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2019)
LOCAL & STATE 6A — BAKER CITY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019 Tribes call for removal of 3 Columbia River dams By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press THE DALLES — Two Pacifi c Northwest tribes on Monday demanded the removal of three major hydro- electric dams on the Colum- bia River to save migrating salmon and starving orcas and restore fi shing sites that were guaranteed to the tribes in a treaty more than 150 years ago. The Yakama and Lummi nations made the demand of the U.S. government on Indigenous Peoples Day, a designation that’s part of a trend to move away from a holiday honoring Christopher Columbus. The tribes referred to the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day dams. For decades, people have debated whether to remove four big dams on the Lower Snake River, a tributary of the Columbia, but breaching the three Columbia dams, which are a much more signifi cant source of power, has never been seriously discussed. Proposals to merely curtail operations, let alone remove the structures, are controver- sial, and the prospects of the Columbia dams being demol- ished any time soon appear nonexistent. Tribal leaders said at a news conference along the Columbia River that the Treaty of 1855, in which 14 tribes and bands ceded 11.5 million acres to the United States, was based on the inac- curate belief that the U.S. had a right to take the land. Under the treaty, the Yakama Tribe retained the right to fi sh at all their tradi- tional sites. But construction Associated Press Gillian Flaccus / Associated Press JoDe Goudy, chairman of the Yakama Nation, speaks with the Columbia River in the background near The Dalles on Monday, where Celilo Falls, an ancient salmon fi shing site was destroyed by the construction of The Dalles Dam in the 1950s. of the massive concrete dams decades later along the lower Columbia River destroyed critical fi shing spots and made it impossible for salmon to complete their migration. After a song of prayer, Yakama Nation Chairman JoDe Goudy spoke Monday at the site of now-vanished Celilo Falls near The Dalles, and said the placid Columbia River behind him looked “like a lake where we once saw a free-fl owing river.” “We have a choice and it’s one or the other: dams or salmon,” he said. “Our ances- tors tell us to look as far into the future as we can. Will we be the generation that forgot those who are coming behind us, those yet unborn?” Celilo Falls was a tradi- tional salmon-fi shing site for the Yakama for centuries, but it was swallowed by the river in 1957 after the construction FALL TIRE of The Dalles Dam. The three dams operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are a critical part of a complex hydroelectric network strung along the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho that powers the entire region. Government offi cials were unavailable for further comment Monday due to the holiday. Supporters of dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers note the vast amount of clean energy they produce and their usefulness for irrigation and transporta- tion. For example, they allow farmers to ship about half of U.S. wheat exports by barge instead of by truck or rail. Ac- cording to the Pacifi c North- west Waterways Association, about 40,000 local jobs are dependent on shipping on the SALE $ SAVE 152 UP TO - ON A SET OF 4 SELECT LIGHT TRUCK AND SUV TIRES - • Good tread wear • Value priced • Mud & snow rated BLM unveils plan to build fuel breaks By Keith Ridler Lew Brothers Terramax H/T PARTS OF OREGON, IDAHO, NEVADA Back Country Touring H/T Back Country All Terrain • Outstanding durability • Superior handling • All-season performance • Mud & snow rated • Extended tread life • Outstanding traction • Quiet ride • Designed for comfort Back Country MT •Cut and chip resistant • Outstanding mud and snow traction • Severe duty applications • Durable 3-ply sidewall We gladly make appointments. 210 Bridge Street, Baker City 541-523-3679 After Hours: 541-518-7100 View prices and book an appointment at www.LesSchwab.com Off er valid September 1st - October 31st, 2019 Columbia and Snake rivers. The Lummi Nation is in northwestern Washington state, far from the Columbia River, but it has also been touched by construction of the dams, said Jeremiah Julius, Lummi Nation chair- man. Chinook salmon are the preferred prey of endangered orcas but just 73 resident orcas remain in the Pa- cifi c Northwest — the lowest number in three decades — because of a lack of chinook, as well as toxic contamina- tion and vessel noise. The orcas were hunted for food for generations by the Lummi Nation in the Salish Sea, he said. “We are in a constant bat- tle ... to leave future genera- tions a lifeway promised our ancestors 164 years ago, he said. “Our people understand that the salmon, like the orca, are the miner’s canary for the health of the Salish Sea and for all its children. “I choose salmon,” he added. “I will always choose salmon.” Fish ladders built into the dams allow for the passage of migrating salmon, and mi- grating fi sh are hand-counted as they pass through. But the number of salmon mak- ing the arduous journey to the Pacifi c Ocean and back to their natal streams has declined steeply in recent decades. The Columbia River Basin once produced between 10 million and 16 million salmon a year. Now there are about 1 million a year. The Bonneville Dam was constructed in the mid- 1930s and generates enough electricity to power about 900,000 homes — roughly the size of Portland. The Dalles Dam followed in the 1950s and John Day Dam was completed in 1972. Environmental groups ap- plauded the tribes’ demand and said efforts to save salmon without removing the dams aren’t working because without the free fl ow of the Columbia, the entire river ecosystem is out of balance. BOISE — One option in a plan to battle devastating wildfi res in southwestern Idaho, southeastern Or- egon and northern Nevada creates 1,500 miles of fuel breaks up to 400 feet wide along existing roads. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Friday released a draft environmental impact statement for the Tri-State Fuel Breaks Project and is taking public comments through November. The agency said creating fuel breaks by clearing veg- etation will help fi refi ghters stop wildfi res and protect key habitat for sage grouse and other wildlife on land also used by cattle ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts. The area contains one of the largest strongholds for greater sage grouse in the northern Great Basin but faces wildfi re threats from invasive annual grasses, notably fi re-prone cheatgrass. Federal offi cials in 2015 declined to list sage grouse as needing protection under the Endangered Species Act. But giant wildfi res have impacted the bird’s habitat. In the last decade, the area has seen repeated giant rangeland wildfi res up to 870 square miles. The agency said that at least fi ve of the wildfi res, mainly fueled by cheatgrass, burned more than 150 square miles in the fi rst 24 hours. Cheatgrass is an annual that quickly returns, while native, slow-growing sagebrush can take decades to recover. “The shrub-steppe landscapes within this area represent one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the United States,” the bureau said. Scott Lake of Western Watersheds Project, an envi- ronmental group, said the fuel breaks would ultimately harm the region by opening areas to cheatgrass and other invasive plants. He also said the fuel breaks would fragment habitat, isolating wildlife populations afraid to cross open ground created by fuel breaks. The bureau doesn’t “manage these fuel breaks to the extent that’s needed to prevent invasive species from taking root,” Lake said. Sage grouse are ground-dwelling, chicken-sized birds found in 11 Western states, where between 200,000 to 500,000 remain, down from a peak population of about 16 million. They rely on sagebrush to survive. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game said earlier this year that sage grouse numbers in the state have dropped more than 50% since 2015. In Oregon, bird numbers this year reached their lowest level — 14,000 — since reliable estimates have been recorded beginning in 1996, according to the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. Oregon might allow customers to bring reusable containers to stores, restaurants SALEM (AP) — Oregon may soon allow customers to bring their own reusable food containers to grocery stores and restaurants in an effort to curb plastic waste. The Statesman Journal reports that’s not currently allowed under U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules, which Oregon has adopted, because of the potential for cross-contamination with pathogens or allergens. But pressure to change state regulations has been mounting, state offi cials said, following China’s deci- sion in January 2018 to stop allowing many items from the U.S. to be imported for recycling. Since then, Oregonians have thrown away more than 16,000 tons of previously recyclable items, much of them single-use plastics like take-out containers. “People are looking for ways to reduce the waste stream,” said Isaak Stapleton, Food Safety Program director for the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Calls for a rule change intensifi ed after the state cracked down on a program at First Alternative Co-op in Corvallis, which had for years been washing contain- ers returned by customers and offering them for reuse. Its customers submitted a petition to state regulators. Oregon is starting with a look at rules for grocery stores, which ODA licenses and inspects. 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Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY; in August, grocery chain OK: P150OK; TN: P150TN). 6209 representatives worried about cross-contamination, NO MORE GUTTER CLEANING, and pointed out additional OR YOUR MONEY BACK – concerns. GUARANTEED! Among them: The possi- bility of theft if the contain- SENIOR & % AND! % MILITARY ers aren’t clear; consumers FINANCING* OFF DISCOUNTS using containers not meant to be used multiple times; FREE ESTIMATES! 1-855-536-8838 and problems getting an Mon-Thurs: 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat: Promo Number: 285 accurate tare weight, or 8am-5pm, Sun: 2pm-8pm EST the weight of the container before it’s fi lled. AW19-1037B 0 15 &RQWDFWXVIRUDGGLWLRQDOGHWDLOV Limited time off er. While supplies last. Discount depends on the tire size & type. Cannot be combined with other off ers. 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