State officials and congressional leaders from throughout the Northwest were stunned this week to learn that the Obama administration had eliminated federal funding to rescue threatened and endangered salmon.
The news of the missing money — possibly as much as $90 million — was so shocking that 10 U.S. senators and 20 U.S. representatives quickly fired off a joint letter to the White House.
"On the West Coast and especially in the Pacific Northwest, salmon are part of our heritage, our culture and our economy," they stated in the letter. "Federal funding, together with state and local resources, has allowed local citizens and officials to initiate thousands of restoration and conservation projects, including hatchery reform, within our states."