Some environmental groups oppose lower Snake River dam removal plan [View all]

BOISE, Idaho — A coalition of 17 environmental groups is speaking out against a key part of a sweeping plan to remove the lower Snake River dams to save salmon and steelhead.

The groups said in a letter to Democratic senators in Oregon and Washington that the 35-year moratorium on fish- and dam-related lawsuits included in Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson’s proposal in exchange for dam removal was too high a price to pay, the Idaho Statesman reported Saturday.

A years-long ban on lawsuits will make federal and state laws on clean water standards and species protections harder to enforce, the groups said in the letter to Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Oregon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.

The groups urged the lawmakers to oppose the proposal “as written,” but said they generally support the idea of breaching the dams and helping impacted communities. The letter argues that the reason salmon aren't yet extinct on the Snake River is because of lawsuits to protect their habitat under environmental laws that were enacted after the dams were already built.

Read more: https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/environment/2021/03/27/some-environmental-groups-oppose-lower-snake-river-dam-removal-plan/7033554002/
(Eugene Register Guard)