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A House of Cards

published by Steven on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 12:43am

 Some noteworthy developments in the free-the rivers movement in the last few weeks:

First, there's this video interview with seasoned federal Judge James Redden: http://soc.li/QsyRj0Z

Redden, of course, spent the final decade of his career presiding over the longest running ESA court case in American history, National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service, better known as dams versus what's left of Columbia and Snake River Salmon. 

Why hatcheries suck

published by Steven on Tue, 01/17/2012 - 11:20pm

"The trout hatchery at iDeath was built years ago when the last tiger was killed and burned on the spot. We built the trout hatchery right there. The walls went up around the ashes...

The hatchery has a beautiful tile floor with the tiles put together so gracefully that it's almost like music. It's a swell place to dance. There is a statue of the last tiger in the hatchery. The tiger is on fire in the statue. We are all watching it."

-Richard Brautigan  In Watermelon Sugar

Voices of the dammed

published by Steven on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 5:44am

Evening before last, I was at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, along with two dozen other folks,  just a few clicks from Kennebunkport, Maine. I'd already proved myself persona non grata in the rarefied atmosphere of privilege that pervades the community hereabouts. What I thought was a portrait of George Washington in one of the local cafes turned out to be a likeness of Barbara Bush, the former first lady, who apparently vacations here along with the rest of the Bush clan.

Burmese want Irrawaddy River to stay undammed, Columbia/Snake still totally jammed

published by Steven on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 11:23am

 Time for global current affairs update: Burmese President Thein Sein, citing a groundswell of public opposition in his country, suspended a Chinese-financed, 6,000 megawatt dam earlier this week. (You can read about it in the Wall Street Journal)

Images from Condit

published by Steven on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 9:31am

Take a look at Andy Maser's time lapse camera work, charting the progress of the removal of Condit Dam. 

While you're at it, here's a photo by Michael Peterson (www.petersonstock.com) of the first tule chinook to spawn above Condit in a hundred years. These fish have been trapped below the dam and released above it by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Elwha Dam Removal

published by Steven on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 8:22am

Just back from the Elwha, having negotiated the drive home in a monsoon night before last...

It was an inspiring weekend. The fun began on Thursday night, when Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard gave the keynote address to conclude the Elwha Science symposium. (Chouinard wondered aloud why scientists would want to hear about the science of dam removal from a business guy with a high school education who spent most of his schooling learning to fix cars...but in his usual self-depreciating way, opened the door for a flood of intelligent questions and comments from the audience.)

Elwha Dam Removal--and new hatchery?--Elwhat the F*ck?

published by Steven on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 2:11pm

Tomorrow I'm headed up to Port Angeles for the Park Service sponsored shin-dig, celebrating the tear-down of Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams. It's a historic day for the nascent dam removal movement, worthy of the attention of every fisherman, water baby and river rat in the country.These two outdated and unsafe structures block hundreds of miles of spawning and rearing habitat for five species of Pacific salmon.

At Last, The Song Remains the Same

published by Steven on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 8:11pm

Redden Ruled.

The feds have struck out again in trying to come up with a legal plan to restore dwindling Columbia River salmon.

How Long O Lord, How Long?

published by Steven on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 4:24pm

Half of summer 2011 is gone, and some salmon advocates are beginning to feel the same way about The Decision from Judge James Redden's court as they do about the fickle appearance of the sun this gray summer in the Pacific Northwest. A nice ideal, but don't plan your vacation around its appearance.To review, the last day of oral argument in the longest-running and most expensive ESA court case in U.S. History (2001-20??) was May 9th, on the 17th floor of the Mark O.

Rep: Richard Hastings: What's Up with Condit, Doc?

published by Steven on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 1:24pm

Last week Rep. Doc  Hastings (R-Washington)  got the House to approve two bills preventing the use of federal funds for projects in his home state. Hastings defense of these bills shouldn’t leave the impression he’s volunteering his district to lead the way to cut the fat out of the federal budget. But it does make him look like he’s got a vendetta against salmon recovery.