skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Young People Gather to Save NW Salmon, Call for Dam Removal

play audio
Play

Friday, June 3, 2022   

Young people are leading the charge this weekend in the call to remove four dams conservation groups believe will aid the survival of salmon in the Northwest.

The rally and march for salmon and orca take place on Saturday in Seattle, to urge Washington state leaders to remove four lower Snake River dams.

Owen Begley-Collier, a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle who is helping host the event with his group, Snake River Savers, said orcas have been one of his great loves since he was a kid, but he is worried about their future.

"Ever since four federal dams were put up on the lower Snake River, the wild salmon population has plummeted," Begley-Collier pointed out. "Which has deprived these ecosystems and communities."

Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., plan to release their recommendations for the lower Snake River dams by July 31. Conservation groups have encouraged the public to reach out to them to suggest breaching the dams. Supporters of the dams argued they are important for energy production, barging and irrigation.

Begley-Collier stressed it would take action beyond voting to remove the dams.

"If you vote someone in that you think aligns with your values, but you don't actually hold them accountable to do what you want them to do, they're not going to take action unless you put pressure on them and do more than just vote," Begley-Collier contended. "I think as young people, we've sort of realized that, because we can't do that yet."

Begley-Collier noted Inslee and Murray have promised salmon will not go extinct on their watch, and he believes they need to back up the claim.

"The scientific consensus is, and has been for decades now, that the only way to make sure that these species do not go extinct is to breach the Snake River dams," Begley-Collier asserted. "The only way to make that you are not lying about that is to breach the Snake River dams. That is the only option left."

The event begins at 11 a.m. at Central Lutheran Church Hall. Other organizations involved with the rally include the Endangered Species Coalition, Save Our Wild Salmon and the Washington Environmental Council.

Disclosure: The Endangered Species Coalition contributes to our fund for reporting on Endangered Species and Wildlife. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021