Pacific Rivers

06/14/2022

✨Our new issue of the Free Flow newsletter is out now! ✨You can find this issue, as well as past issues of the newsletter, on our website (link in bio).

The spring issue includes a status update from the Chair of the Board and in-depth reports from Board Members on current projects, including our Snake River Clean Water Act settlement. We also remember devoted board members who have recently passed away.

We're proud of this issue of Free Flow and the work and advocacy it celebrates. We hope you have time to check it out and find the essays, updates, and beautiful photos inspiring and informative.

09/15/2021

"Tribal members have engaged in fishing, hunting, gathering and pasturing in this region since time immemorial, and this area continues to play a major role in our culture and economy. For example, the Joseph Creek drainage is of particular religious and cultural significance because it contains archaeological sites, important hunting, fishing and gathering grounds, traditional cultural properties and ceremonial centers."

Don't miss Chairman Penney's great letter to the editor in the East Oregonian highlighting the opportunity and importance of Wild and Scenic River protections for Eastern Oregon watersheds and headwater streams.

Nez Perce Tribe
Senator Ron Wyden
Senator Jeff Merkley

The Nez Perce connection to Northeast Oregon is strong, deep and timeless. The beauty and boundless resources of this part of the tribe’s aboriginal homeland are just a few of

09/14/2021

Irrigation from the Snake and Columbia Rivers has transformed thousands of acres of desert and sagebrush land into some of the most valuable, productive farmland in the Northwest. Writing for The Seattle Times, Lynda Mapes is reporting on a proposal from the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association that would give up barge access to the port of Lewiston, keep the dams in place, and allow them to continue pumping water with existing infrastructure.

Greg Haller, of Pacific Rivers, explains: "It’s clear the irrigation community understands that the status quo isn’t working for salmon and I applaud their effort to break the gridlock with this proposal. However, from an ecological perspective, drawing down two dams to spillway crest simply isn’t enough to put salmon on the path to recovery.

The irrigation community is a vital part of the Northwest economy and Congressman Simpson’s proposal to breach the four lower Snake dams embraces that fact with huge investments in new irrigation infrastructure that will keep water flowing to farm fields even without the dams. A true win-win solution."

For irrigators on the Lower Snake River, the immense value of their land is because of water. Without it, fields would dry up. Now as the debate over dam removal to save endangered fish drags on, they're pitching a new...

09/08/2021

"The Nez Perce Tribe and two conservation groups reached a settlement agreement with the state of Oregon that they say will improve water quality at and below the three-dam Hells Canyon Complex on the Snake River and possibly lead to sockeye recovery in Wallowa Lake.

The tribe and the conservation groups — Pacific Rivers and Idaho Rivers United — sued the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in 2019, arguing the state violated the federal Clean Water Act when it certified the proposed relicensing of Idaho Power’s dams at the southern end of North America’s deepest river gorge."

Great coverage in the Lewiston Tribune of our recent Snake River water quality litigation settlement!

Read it at:

The Nez Perce Tribe and two conservation groups reached a settlement agreement with the state of Oregon that they say will improve water quality at and below the three-dam Hells

09/08/2021

Cleaner and Cooler Water for the Snake River!

After two years of negotiations, Pacific Rivers, Idaho Rivers United and the Nez Perce Tribe have settled litigation that will force the state of Oregon to develop a plan to limit dangerous methylmercury pollution and accelerate remediation of water temperatures impacting endangered salmon at Idaho Power's massive hydropower complex at Hells Canyon.

The litigation was brought under the authority of the Clean Water Act and will improve water quality in the impoundments at the Hells Canyon Complex and downstream in the Snake River.

Read the press release at: https://bit.ly/2X034Dk

​Our new issue of the Free Flow Newsletter is out now! Download a copy today or read it at the Pacific Rivers website This Summer's issue includes great insights and perspectives on...

09/02/2021

Storytelling is a powerful tool for educating the public and reminding all of us why we need to fight for the Northwest's clean water, free-flowing rivers, and incredible native fish.

Shane Anderson is one of the best storytellers of this era and only getting better with each project. Don't miss this exceptional profile on his work and conservation ethic by Erin Spaulding.

It’s an hour till dark on the Olympic Peninsula’s lower Hoh River. The aquamarine water and neon greens of this temperate rainforest are currently bathed in a muted blue as Shane Anderson takes in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the end of the river and an end to the last steelhead fishing trip for th...

08/31/2021

Huge thanks to Senator Ron Wyden and his staff, and the crew at People's Town Hall, for today's great conversation about the River Democracy Act and the important opportunity to permanently protect 4700 miles of Oregon's beautiful rivers as Wild and Scenic.

Want to learn more about this inspiring legislation? Our recent short film is a great place to start.

Watch it at: https://vimeo.com/534234263

Oregon is a state blessed with vast networks of rivers and streams flowing through remarkable landscapes and ecosystems. Oregonians cherish these wild places and…

08/25/2021

Stop what you're doing and take six minutes to watch this powerful recap of the Salmon Orca Summit convened by the Nez Perce Tribe and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians in July.

For two days, tribal leaders testified on what the loss of salmon has meant for their culture and the region as a whole. They called for the United States to honor our treaty obligations and finally take the bold, collaborative actions required to heal rivers and restore fisheries for the benefit and future of all the people of the Northwest.

Attendees heard David Johnson's warning of how close the Snake River's salmon and steelhead teeter on extinction - how they can't survive too many more hot summers like the one we are all experiencing in 2021 without bold interventions.

Many elected leaders appeared via staffers or through online presentations. Congressman Mike Simpson was in attendance both days, listening to testimony and offering his urgent call to remove the four Lower Snake River Dams and invest in the region's clean energy and transportation infrastructure.

Watch, listen, and share the video widely. Our elected officials need to hear this testimony. As Steelhead runs fall to the lowest levels ever seen, and Spring Chinook and Sockeye fight to hang on in the Columbia and Snake Basin, it is time to truly change direction before it is finally too late for these keystone species.

08/22/2021

Greg Haller, executive director of Pacific Rivers, told Clearing Up, "Conservation groups have been advocating for ecosystem-based function as a new leg of the treaty, and I don't see anything in these amendments that points to that future."

A $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. Senate Aug. 10 includes an amendment from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that supporters say will help the U.S. negotiate a new Columbia River Treaty that will provide more equitable entitlement payments to British Columbia.

Environmental groups, however, say they're disappointed the bill does not include funding for a plan to remove the four lower Snake River dams, and that Cantwell's amendment includes nothing to ensure fish and the environment are protected in a new treaty.

A $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. Senate Aug. 10 includes an amendment from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that supporters say will help the U.S. negotiate a new

08/20/2021

Their future comes down to a race between paperwork and a fish disease.

08/18/2021

"My priority is to ensure we have robust, harvestable salmon and steelhead populations throughout the Columbia Basin for generations to come. We can do so in a manner that combats climate change with growth in clean and renewable energy, ensures a cost-effective irrigation system for farmers and ranchers, invests in safe and economical transport of goods and secures vibrant recreation opportunities in and throughout the Columbia Basin. It won’t be easy. But it’s the only way to ensure a vibrant future for the region.

I’m ready to sit down with anyone willing to work with me to make that future a reality. Let’s get it done."

Oregon's Governor Kate Brown gets it. Restoring salmon should be a bipartisan issue. She was one of the first PNW elected leaders to support Congressman Mike Simpson's comprehensive approach to breaching the four Lower Snake Dams and investing widely in the region's infrastructure.

Read her recent op-ed calling the region to work together:
https://tinyurl.com/47yzesdz

Over the many years I have engaged with stakeholders and tribal partners about a path forward in the Columbia Basin, one thing is clear: The status quo isn’t working. Iconic