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Take Action! Support the Salmon Economic Analysis and Planning Act. For two years in a row, the Bush administration and various federal agencies failed to implement their own plan to save endangered Columbia and Snake river wild salmon and steelhead from extinction. According to the "Salmon Plan Report Card" issued by conservationists and members of the sport and commercial fishing industries, the government failed to implement more than 70 percent of the 150 measures required in 2002 under the federal Salmon Plan. Then in Fall 2003, this Bush Administration "Salmon Recovery Plan" was ruled illegal by a Federal Judge. The Bush Administration's re-write, which could have helped restore habitat, lessen the impacts of hatcheries on wild salmon, and improve survival rates through dams, was worse. Their new plan varied wildly from the original judges' request, and he ruled it illegal in May, 2005. They Administration attempted to avoid its responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act by saying two things. One was that they said the dams were a natural part of the river, and they are not responsible for the damage they cause to salmon. The other was that they weren't responsible for recovering salmon, just "treading water" at current levels. This, in a year where returning salmon numbers were so low that spring fishing season was cut short in the Northwest. Now it is time to create a new plan that meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, fulfills treaty promises and restores wild salmon to harvestable numbers is crucial. Coho salmon went extinct in the Snake River in 1985. All five remaining species of Snake River salmon and steelhead are listed under the Endangered Species Act, headed toward the same fate unless we act now. Biologists say that, collectively, the four lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington are the primary threat to salmon. These dams and reservoirs now lie between the inland streams where salmon are born and the ocean where they spend most of their lives. Endangered Species Lewis and Clark: Fishing Guide Wildlands: Hunting and Fishing National Marine Fisheries Service Light on the River NW Salmon Report, March 2008 SalmonRecovery.gov Up to Top