The groups want the dams removed to save salmon, and replaced with other sources of renewable energy from things like electrifying railways.
||| FROM KING5.COM |||
SEATTLE — Conservation groups are calling on lawmakers for the removal of all four lower Snake River Dams. The goal is to save salmon and in turn southern resident orcas.
After a blessing from the Duwamish Tribe, kayaks, canoes and paddle boards hit the Puget Sound to save the salmon and orca of the Pacific Northwest.
“Indigenous nations here in the Northwest have orca as part of their culture and their spirituality. So, if we lost these incredible animals, I don’t think we would be the same Northwest that we have been,” said Chris Connolly, with the Endangered Species Coalition.
The event was called “Rally for the River” and was put on by several organizations with one goal: the removal of the lower Snake River Dams to save salmon and orcas in the Pacific Northwest.
“These four dams in the lower Snake River were erected in the 70s and 80s, fish biologists knew then that these dams were going to really hurt salmon populations,” Connolly explained.
The four lower Snake River dams, all in eastern Washington, are hydroelectric Dams.
These groups want them removed to save salmon and replaced with other sources of renewable energy from things like electrifying railways.
Salmon use the Snake River to travel to the Sound every year. Without salmon there are no more orcas, the groups argue.
READ FULL ARTICLE: www.king5.com/article/tech/science/environment/snake-river-dams-salmon-orca-protection-washington-state/
