Northwest Ag Community Reminded To Comment On Snake River Dam EIS Draft

The comment period regarding the Snake River Dams Environmental Impact Statement draft is currently taking place.

In late February, the federal government released the draft EIS which said removing the four dams would destabilize the power grid and increase overall greenhouse emission. While the announcement was welcomed news by most of the Ag community, supporters of the dams say the work is far from done. Eastern Washington representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said you can’t look at just the potential impact on fish when discussing removing those dams.

“When you consider a decision like removing the four lower Snake River dams, it would devastate our economy and it would raise carbon emissions.  Look at the science, the science that shows the best way to recover salmon is cleaning up the Puget Sound.  That’s the way we’re going to recover salmon and save orcas.”

McMorris Rogers added removing the dams would not just impact eastern Washington.

“This is a statewide issue, this is a regional issue, it’s absolutely a priority for agriculture when you think about the impact of the Columbia, Snake River system on barging.  Barging is the most environmentally friendly way that we can get our grain to the ports.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all of the in person comment session have evolved into teleconferences. Public comment will also be taken on-line through the middle of April.

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