This oregonlive.com article presents some great factoids for the orca conservationist. These are my favorite excerpts:
The total spent by the agency [BPA] since 1978 is about $12 billion. That spending shows up in your power bill. About 15 percent, or $11, of the average Nortwesterner’s monthly electricity charges goes towards salmon, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which develops the regional strategy to balance fish and power needs.Over 20 years ago, the council set a goal of doubling the number of salmon and steelhead entering the mouth of the Columbia River from the 2.5 million it was then to 5 million, still only a third to a half of historic runs, estimated at 10 to 15 million.
But the region is no closer to that goal now. And there is still no monitoring program in place to tell whether all the money we’re spending and work we’re doing is helping.
More recently the council set a deadline for doubling fish runs of 2025, and they are working on developing a uniform monitoring plan for fish across the basin.
It’s flabbergasting to read of the Council’s failure to meet such moderate long-term goals, and then re-setting them! These people should be shamed along with responsible actors at the BPA and Army Corp.
And in the end, it all still sounds like small peanuts. I remain unconvinced that many of the Columbia and Snake River dams are worth keeping around. Give a cogent analysis of the costs/benefits of the dams and I’ll bet you that if the power/salmon/orca connection was made loud and clear to citizens of western Washington citizens, a majority would opt to pay much more to preserve our regional icons and reputation natural beauty and abundance.
Take last minute action: write to ex-WA-Governor Gary Locke, now Secretary of the Interior.
