GOP in Idaho Comes Out AGAINST Steelhead and Salmon Fishing Opportunities

Just in case you wonder what happens when you allow the GOP to control a legislative body, the answer is, you have fewer options of where you can go fish.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Ses-
25 sion of the Sixty-fourth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and
26 the Senate concurring therein, that the State of Idaho supports actions by
27 the Governor and the Attorney General to oppose passage and introduction of
28 salmon or steelhead above Hells Canyon Dam, that are necessary to protect
29 Idaho's sovereignty, including its waters and property rights, and to en-
30 sure that Idaho's sovereignty is not violated by the introduction of salmon
31 or steelhead to the reaches of the Snake River, and its Idaho tributaries,
32 above Hells Canyon Dam.
33 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor and the Attorney General shall
34 undertake such action as is necessary and appropriate to ensure that the
35 terms of the 1980 Agreement are complied with in regard to mitigation for the
36 Hells Canyon Complex to protect upstream water users, water rights, landown-
37 ers and economic development from the State of Oregon's efforts to pass and
38 introduce salmon and steelhead above Hells Canyon Dam into waters of the
39 State.
40 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that consistent with the authority of Section
41 67-6302, Idaho Code, the Legislature of the State of Idaho does not approve
42 of the efforts by the State of Oregon and opposes any action by a federal
43 agency, or any entity acting on behalf of a federal agency, or other groups,
44 entities or individuals to require the passage and introduction or reintro-
45 duction of salmon or steelhead above Hells Canyon Dam, including trying to
46 include in the FERC license for the Hells Canyon Project any provision that
47 would result in introduction or reintroduction of any such species into the
48 waters of the State of Idaho.

49 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, the State of Idaho supports the relicens-
50 ing of Hells Canyon Complex consistent with the following policies: (A) The

license is consistent with the policies set forth in the Idaho State Water
Plan; (B) The license recognizes that no salmon and steelhead populations
can be introduced or reintroduced above Hells Canyon Dam; (C) The license
recognizes that the water rights for the Hells Canyon Complex are subordi-
nated to future upstream uses as set forth in the partial decrees for each of
the three dams; and (D) The mitigation requirements in the license for salmon
and steelhead comply with the terms of the 1980 Settlement Agreement.

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Reader's Digest Version:

The dams in the Hells Canyon Complex (Hells Canyon, Oxbow, Brownlee) are up for re-licensing for the power generation by Idaho Power. The original licenses for these dams required salmon and steelhead passage to allow us to fish in the Weiser, Payette, Boise, Jarbidge, Bruneau, Owyhee, and Malheur Rivers.

Unfortunately, when Idaho Power built the dams, they screwed up the fish passage on Brownlee, so they said "to hell with it" and never built the passage into Hells Canyon and Oxbow Dams. And, to try and placate Idaho sportsmen, they built some hatcheries to give us half-tame fish to catch, instead of wild fish.

Now, time to re-license, and the Idaho GOP has decided that guys in Idaho don't need to be able to catch fish in the historical fishing grounds of my ancestors.

Damn it! The sky is falling again. How will we survive?

sbhooper said:

Damn it! The sky is falling again. How will we survive?

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Please explain to me why I shouldn't want salmon to swim in its native waters? I would love to catch one a half mile from my home.

sbhooper said:

Damn it! The sky is falling again. How will we survive?

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Hooper, you just don't seem to get it, sure we'll survive, hell if every fish on the planet dies, every 4 legged wild critter on earth dies, every frickin acre of public land gets sold to some private entity and the only clean water left on earth is the stuff coming out of your kitchen faucet, damnit WE'LL ALL SURVIVE, so what's your point?, Just sit back and act as if nothing matters. I applaud people who give a shit about issues regardless how trivial they seem to you.

u1299 said:

Hooper, you just don't seem to get it, sure we'll survive, hell if every fish on the planet dies, every 4 legged wild critter on earth dies, every frickin acre of public land gets sold to some private entity and the only clean water left on earth is the stuff coming out of your kitchen faucet, damnit WE'LL ALL SURVIVE, so what's your point?, Just sit back and act as if nothing matters. I applaud people who give a shit about issues regardless how trivial they seem to you.

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And, the funny part is, a robust salmon and steelhead run is one of the best sporting activities around. Look at how many people travel to Alaska and BC to steelhead and salmon fish.

Not wanting to have a salmon run or a steelhead run is probably equivalent to saying we don't need Elk in Idaho. Or Wild Sheep.


The Anti-s like sbhooper who don't value fishing and hunting will have to be minimized as we try and preserve something for future generations to hunt and fish.


At one time, the estimated salmon runs into NEVADA were 6000 fish per year.

Yeah, the flippin' sky is falling....

JoseCuervo said:

And, the funny part is, a robust salmon and steelhead run is one of the best sporting activities around. Look at how many people travel to Alaska and BC to steelhead and salmon fish.

Not wanting to have a salmon run or a steelhead run is probably equivalent to saying we don't need Elk in Idaho. Or Wild Sheep.


The Anti-s like sbhooper who don't value fishing and hunting will have to be minimized as we try and preserve something for future generations to hunt and fish.


At one time, the estimated salmon runs into NEVADA were 6000 fish per year.

Yeah, the flippin' sky is falling....

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+ 1 being able to enjoy these fisheries and not travel to Alaska or BC is a great pleasure

Have you considered moving to California, Jose? The politics would be more to your liking, and the dams there are starting to crumble. Think about it.

If you’ve been paying attention Salmon, steelhead, Halibut and bottom fish are only a fraction of what they use to be even ten years ago, much less 20 or 60 years ago. Pretty much the same in BC. One just needs to look at the actual counts and the resulting restrictions on fishing. Lot of folks out in Bristol Bay are asking for an no kill on kings. Might be time to think about trying to save a few runs.

Salmonchaser said:

If you’ve been paying attention Salmon, steelhead, Halibut and bottom fish are only a fraction of what they use to be even ten years ago, much less 20 or 60 years ago. Pretty much the same in BC. One just needs to look at the actual counts and the resulting restrictions on fishing. Lot of folks out in Bristol Bay are asking for an no kill on kings. Might be time to think about trying to save a few runs.

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I hear you and agree. The problem with saving runs is very few people want to sacrifice anything. I have spent a lot of time pondering this dilemma and hypocrisy lurks everywhere - from anglers, politics, private property rights, etc.

Oregon is an interesting example. An average Joe will think Oregon is an environmentally progressive place which surely has an emphasis on looking out for Salmon and Steelhead. This could not be further from the truth. For years Oregon has had no campaign contribution limits which meant corporations and industry could funnel however much money they wanted to our politicians. The result? Politicians who catered to 'pollution heavy' industries every need. The DEQ, for example, was very SOFT on enforcement of pollution. Why? Because the corporations and industry who polluted the most controlled it. The legislators who sat on the budget committee of the DEQ would pull the DEQ's funding if it threatened to enforce even basic environmental regulations. Without money it's hard for departments to function. Below is a link to an award winning journalism series on this very issue. Even if you don't live in Oregon, it's worth a read because it is almost certainly happening in some form or another in your state.

polluted by money

Our society is accustomed to owning, dominating, and controlling land/water in accordance with private property rights, or perceived private property rights. The problem is too many people have zero clue how to live within an ecosystem, how to identify basic native plants, how to identify invasive plants, how to identify basic species, how to keep their own topsoil, how to take care of the water on their property, etc.

A person would think it would be easy to delegate these nuances (such as salmon) to government but as it stands, one political party doesn't even have an environmental platform and embraces environmental rollbacks - like we recently saw with clean water act, endangered species act, NEPA, and many others. The other political party has an environmental platform but it's really hit or miss...see Oregon example above, a blue state.

When it comes down to it people do not want to sacrifice money or introduce inconveniences to their lifestyle. That is the real challenge to saving salmon. The government cannot do it.

Welcome back JC! Glad you bring some partisan / party affiliation fellowship to HT.

Crap, another returned old post and I snockered for it.
I miss JC.