Burbank, Wash.- Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA), hosted members of the House Committee on Natural Resources for site visits and a field hearing to discuss the importance of the Snake River Dams and how dams and salmon can coexist.
“And many people, call them the dam breaching advocates, and there are many of them in this current administration, and in my opinion, are putting forth baseless claims that these dams pose a threat to the salmon populations that we all hold dear,” said Newhouse.
“In fact, last year, salmon returns were highest since 2016.”
The Snake River Dams are a powerful source that brings navigation, transportation, and access to reliable power. However, many environmentalists are completely against the dams because southern orcas and chinook salmon has significantly declined since the structure was set, altering the Pacific Northwest ecosystem.
The dams also affect the many Native American reservations adjacent to the river. Ione Jones, a linear family descendant of the Palouse people from the lower Snake River says, that the federal government keeps stealing resources from Indigenous reservations and breaking promises.
“NOAA fisheries concluded that the dams needed to be breached to protect the salmon,” said Jones, Executive Director and President of Khimstonik Non-Profit Giving Voice.
“Federal agencies who built the dams, forcibly removed the original people’s and persons, desecrated the body of their ancestors and flooded their burial grounds. The suffering of the salmon stops, and those who rely on salmon as food, including the southern resident orca, is evidence of the broader damage of the federal government activities over the 150 years in this region.”
Jones and other members of the tribal community attended the field hearing, where Congress man Newhouse and members of the House Committe on Natural Resources discussed the Snake River Dams. However, Jones says that not one of the Republican government officials addressed her or any member of the Umatilla Tribe.
