Washington

Show Date: Monday, April 14
Show Location: Central Washington University
City: Ellensburg, WA
Guest Speaker: Russell Jim, Yakama Tribe
Guest Musician: Jim Boyd
Issues of focus: Salmon, Columbia River issues, Hanford nuclear Reservation

Summary
We drove south from Ellensburg, WA for a day visit to the Yakama Reservation, where we met with community leaders and educators at Heritage College and then visited the sturgeon and salmon restoration project site. In addition, we discussed the nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation (issues include present nuclear contamination as well as the question of where the radioactive waste will go in "clean up"), the most contaminated site in the United States. We began conversations with the tribe about wind power development in their area as a clean alternative to dams and nuclear power; this marks a new region for Honor the Earth's energy justice organizing.

Background on the Columbia River and related issues
"This river is remarkable clear and crowded with salmon in many places, I observe in ascending great numbers of salmon…" -William Clark 1805

The Columbia River - creating a border between Washington and Oregon - is called Nich'Wana (the "Big River") by the Native nations who live close to it. These tribes are referred to as Salmon Cultures, and comprise the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Klikitat, Yakama, and other nations. At the time of Lewis and Clark there were 16 million salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The Bonneville Power Administration set in motion a damming process, which would re-plumb the Columbia River. Today, some fourteen dams have been built on the main stem of the Columbia River, and some 250 more on the tributaries, reducing the once free-flowing river to a series of reservoirs.

The Grand Coulee Dam is the single largest electricity producing dam (producing enough electricity for a million households) in the US and its erection in l94l set in motion an ultimate obliteration of ecosystems and salmon in the Columbia River. Five hundred and fifty feet tall, with no fish ladders, it is a marvel of modern construction and a salmon exterminator, eliminating a thousand miles or more of salmon habitat.

Over the last 30 years there has been a plummet in salmon stocks by 90% and 12 species are now on the endangered species list.

Salmon can survive some dams. The Columbia species that faces only four dams is much healthier than the Snake River species which face eight dams, four on the Columbia and four on the Snake. The 90% decline since the construction of the dams in 1970 is testimony to this. The Snake River Coho are already extinct and experts forecast that the spring Chinook salmon will vanish by 2016.

The federal government's solution is to box the salmon as youths in large crates and bus them around the dams. But this damages the internal clocks of the young salmon and they do not have the navigational tools to return. Only ˝ to 1 ˝ percent of all the salmon bussed in the 23-year tenure of the experiment have returned.

The failed efforts of the last 20 years to restore salmon have cost about $3 billion, while partial dam removal would cost only $1 billion. Further only 5% of the energy total of the Pacific Northwest comes from these dams, and could be replaced by renewable energy sources such as wind. The increase in the salmon would generate 130 to 400 million dollars in revenue from fishing.

The salmon need bypasses set up around the dams. Studies suggest that if salmon had an opportunity to circumvent the dams they would have an 80-99% chance of complete rejuvenation. On Maine's Edwards Dam, less than a year after removal, wild fish began spawning again in previously blocked portions of The Kennebec River.

Action Cards
Senator Cantwell Action Card
Duwamish River Action Card

Show date: Tuesday, April 15
Show Location: University of Washington
City: Seattle, WA
Guest Speaker: James Rasmussen, Dawamish Tribe
Guest Musician: Swil Kanim
Issues of Focus: Salmon and river issues; federal recognition of the Dawamish Tribe

Summary
We worked with the Duwamish people, who seek to be "restored" as a federally recognized tribe and want to clean up their sacred river, which is currently contaminated with PCB's and toxic sludge from industrial dumping. We also generated support for the Snoqualamie Falls Preservation Project, another struggle to protect a sacred site and dismantle a dam. We met another incredible group of students at an energized, sold-out show.

Action Cards
Senator Cantwell Action Card
Duwamish River Action Card