Word: salmons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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While the Endangered Species Act has given a sense of urgency to the salmon's plight, a number of efforts have already been made to increase the runs. In 1980, Congress passed the Northwest Power Act, which required federal power authorities, who oversee the dams, to give salmon protection equal priority with electricity production. The act also created the four-state Northwest Power Planning Council, which aimed to double the number of salmon to 5 million to make up for those lost in the dams. To meet this goal, the council established fish hatcheries and installed screening devices at many...
...years and a billion regional dollars spent on such efforts have failed to rebuild or even stabilize the salmon populations. Optimism about hatchery technology has waned, and many scientists now believe that domesticated salmon lack the genetic robustness of wild ones. Environmentalists complain that the planning council is too weak to take on the utilities that have dominated the river for decades. "The fish got what utilities were willing to give them," says Bill Bakke, of the Oregon Trout, a fish-conservation group. Instead of doubling, the number of salmon has continued to decline steadily...
Officials at the fisheries service insist that the recovery plan will spread the burden among all the divergent interests, but a power struggle is already under way. "Fish advocates" blame the Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the dams, for not assuming responsibility for the diminished salmon runs. Idaho farmers, on the other hand, want to protect their water-guzzling crops. Meanwhile, four Native American tribes are sure to go to court if their rights to half of all fish in the Columbia River basin are taken away...
Even so, the battle to save the salmon has generated far less rancor than the struggle between environmentalists and loggers over the northern spotted owl. In addition to its contribution to the Northwest economy -- $52 million a year in commercial fishing-related income alone -- the salmon has deep-seated symbolic value. Names of towns such as Chinook and White Salmon reflect the place of the cherished fish in the region's soul. In religious ceremonies, Native American tribes thank their Creator for the life-perpetuating salmon...
...Salmon lovers call completion of Grand Coulee Dam in 1941 one of the darkest moments for the fish. As 27-kg (60-lb.) "June hogs" made their summer migration upstream that year, following their unwavering instinct to return to the streams where they were born, thousands perished when they flung themselves against the unyielding concrete. But even the staunchest fish advocates realize that the June hogs are gone forever and the dams are here to stay. Biologists are optimistic, however, that a strong recovery plan can bring other salmon species back from the brink within 20 years. Leslie Clark...