Save the Date A4D September Meeting Act for Democracy monthly meetings are resuming. Our September meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 28, at 5:00pm. We will be welcoming State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as our guest speaker. Watch for additional details in next week’s newsletter. Until then, make a note in your calendar. We hope to see you there! Climate/Energy/Environment Update Urgent Action Required In late August a startling headline appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s website: “Record-low steelhead returns on Columbia River prompt call for fishing shutdown.” The article that followed described how conservation groups are calling for suspension of recreational fishing of steelhead this fall. “The number of steelhead returning from the ocean to the river this year is the lowest ever recorded.” There is good reason to be concerned about native salmon and steelhead disappearing from the Northwest. Experts, including tribal members, warn that we have less than ten years to act. A4D’s Climate/Energy/Environment Action Team sprang into action and wrote a position statement on breaching the lower Snake River dams as a remedial measure. You can read more on the C/E/E Action Team’s webpage. Also, an opinion piece written by Jim Martin, retired chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, intelligently and passionately describes the situation. In short, the wild chinook, sockeye, and coho salmon are facing extinction. Without the dams, which are located in pristine spawning grounds that historically were the most productive in the Columbia River Basin, they have a chance to survive. To read about the economic benefits and liabilities of the dams, go here. Most importantly, call or email your members of Congress and urge them to take action on breaching the Snake River dams before it’s too late. And thank Representative Earl Blumenauer and Governor Kate Brown for their support of native fish.
- Act for Democracy