Mission

Provide electeds, Tribal leaders, and energy officials with a new view of the blocked river system.

Tucannon Chinook are Washington’s only remaining Snake River Chinook salmon population - and now, Tucannon Hatchery-born fish are being trucked to other parts of the basin to be released. We flew over this threatened tributary of the Snake, the Tucannon River, which flows into the Snake between the Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams. The Tucannon is a ‘canary in the coalmine’, as the freshwater habitat looks healthy in this tributary and yet the hatchery fish being grown here are not doing well. These fish are being bred to be relocated in a desperate attempt to preserve populations in other areas of the Snake basin.

The four lower Snake River dams are part of a hydropower system that was built on the homelands of 19 Tribes who have relied on salmon since time immemorial. The Snake River continues to provide for communities throughout the region, and restoring it is critical for recovering endangered salmon and steelhead, saving American taxpayer and Northwest energy consumer dollars, supporting struggling wildlife such as the endangered Southern Resident Orcas, and upholding our treaty and trust responsibilities to Native American Tribes in the Columbia Basin.

Photos from the flights.