For the last decade, the Northwest has been embroiled in a contentious legal dispute over the fate of fish in the Columbia and Snake river basins.
In the 1990s, 13 species of Columbia basin salmon and steelhead were given protection under the Endangered Species Act, which compelled the federal government to take aggressive action to restore these populations to health. But an ongoing lawsuit claims that the government has not done enough.
Public debate has centered around four hydroelectric dams in the lower Snake River basin that provide 5 percent of the region’s energy needs. Some want to see those dams breached because they believe the fish cannot recover with the dams in place. Others are adamantly opposed to breaching as unnecessary, harmful to the region’s economy and of dubious benefit to salmon.