06/17/05 Renewed debate on the Lower Snake, Finale

06/17/05 Renewed debate on the Lower Snake, Finale

If one arrived in Clarkston Washington almost two weeks ago to attend the U.S. House Subcommittee on Water and Power field hearing on future management of the Lower Snake River, they may have felt the debate was the same ol', same ol'. In one corner of the parking lot was a rally to "Save Our Dams". On the other side, press conferences explaining why "Salmon means money", and why that could mean tearing down the dams to do it. So why would one think anything had changed as far as the seemingly polarizing effects of the issue? One person who caught of glimpse of why is Representative Butch Otter of Idaho, who attended the hearing as a member of the Subcommittee. OTTER: They had rallies out there where both sides got to vent, and got to state their case, but in here, I found a totally different demeanor and that demeanor was one of caring and understand of the value of the other person's position, while certainly championing their own cause. It may be that after years of loud debate and somewhat extreme points of view being floated around on how best to manage the Lower Snake River, and actually the entire Columbia-Lower Snake system, that most, if not all, parties, feel the need to have honest, face-to-face dialogue from which solutions of management workable for all could come out. Although pro-dam supporters paint federal Judge James Redden as environmental leaning at best, and with a desire to shape the future of the Lower Snake at the extreme, he made two points at the June Tenth hearing on a request to increase summer spill over some federal dams. First, the last thing he personally wants to do, or let his court do, is micromanage the Lower Snake River. And second, Redden said the only reason he has been put in that position in the first place is both sides of the issue have failed to spend time together crafting solutions that would benefit all stakeholders. Many have recognized the truth of Redden's second statement. For example, governments of the four Northwest states have been working with federal agencies to develop a balanced strategy to increase fish runs while assuring hydropower and water uses. The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission also hopes serious dialogue will take place and include them. Now there will be those who still say breeching the Lower Snake Dams is the only solution to improve fish runs. But many others are taking the approach that it is going to take a collaborative effort among all stakeholders to craft a working, and livable, solution to management of the Lower Snake, and the entire Columbia River system.
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