skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, April 19, 2025

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

An Alabama man who spent more than 40 years behind bars speaks out, Florida natural habitats are disappearing, and spring allergies hit hard in Connecticut.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

After another campus shooting, President Trump says people, not guns, are the issue. Alaska Sen. Murkowski says Republicans fear Trump's retaliation, and voting rights groups sound the alarm over an executive order on elections.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Money meant for schools in timber country is uncertain as Congress fails to reauthorize a rural program, farmers and others will see federal dollars for energy projects unlocked, and DOGE cuts threaten plant species needed for U.S. food security.

Historic Step Forward for Snake River Dam Replacement in WA Budget

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 18, 2023   

Funding in Washington state's budget is pushing efforts forward to remove four lower Snake River dams in order to save salmon.

Lawmakers committed more than $7 million to begin the transition planning process for the four dams in southeast Washington. The dams have been a site of contention because of their effects on the dwindling population of salmon.

Tanya Riordan, policy and advocacy director for Save Our Wild Salmon, said past studies and reports have called for dam removal, and the federal government sees the new funding efforts as proof the state is ready to take action.

"Although the decision to remove the dams will be made by the federal government -- they're federal dams -- these measures do ensure that Washington state will be prepared to effectively replace the transportation, energy and irrigation infrastructure," Riordan explained.

Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., released a report on replacement of the four dams' services, including barging, hydropower and irrigation provided to nearby agriculture. Riordan believes the new funding measure follows through on their promise. Inslee signed the budget this week.

Erin Farris-Olsen, regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, said salmon are resilient and have come back to the Snake River, albeit in smaller numbers. She stressed quick action is necessary to save them.

"We're moving at the pace of our own readiness as humans more so than we're thinking about the ticking of the clock in terms of salmon extinction," Farris-Olsen contended.

Riordan noted more than $26 billion have been spent on mitigation efforts to recover salmon and keep the dams in place, but they have not worked, and she added there are a number of advantages to transitioning away from them.

"We upgrade and modernize our energy system and transportation and irrigation and the state is benefited and communities will be benefited significantly through this process," Riordan asserted. "We'll save salmon, and we will uphold our treaty responsibilities to tribal nations."

Disclosure: The National Wildlife Federation contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Energy Policy, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Congressional researchers said more than 25 million American households report forgoing food and medicine to pay their energy bills. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress is joining advocates for energy assistance across the country to warn a dangerous situation is brewing for…


Environment

play sound

Teams of researchers and volunteers will fan out at dawn Friday with their smartphones and binoculars on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus for …

Environment

play sound

Environmental groups across Michigan are pushing back after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed it will fast-track Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel …


The elimination of judgeships in 11 Indiana counties followed a weighted caseload study, which found some counties have more judges than needed to manage their current dockets. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Indiana lawmakers approved a bill Tuesday to eliminate judgeships in eleven mostly rural counties as part of a statewide judicial reallocation…

play sound

For Minnesota households planning future college enrollment, there is a good chance tuition will cost more, as public campuses facing tighter budgets …

When cows eat plant cover faster than it can regrow, it erodes and degrades the soil beneath, making it more susceptible to runoff and other undesirable consequences. (Saed/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

By Seth Millstein for Sentient Climate.Broadcast version by Isobel Charle for Washington News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service C…

Environment

play sound

Communities in southern and eastern Montana were connected to passenger rail lines running from Chicago to Seattle until 1979. An effort to fund the …

Environment

play sound

By Jessica Scott-Reid for Sentient Climate.Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Keystone State News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public Ne…

 

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