Leaked document says US is willing to build energy projects in case Snake River dams are breached
In a strong sign that the U.S. will consider breaching four controversial dams on the Snake River, a leaked Biden administration document says the government is prepared to help build clean energy projects to replace the power generated by the dams.
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US: Snake River dams will not be removed to save salmon
SPOKANE, Wash. The U.S. government announced Friday that four huge dams on the Snake River in Washington state will not be removed to help endangered salmon migrate to the ocean. The federal failure to remove the dams despite clear supporting science is a disaster for our endangered salmon and orcas, said Sophia Ressler of the Center for Biological Diversity. The Pacific Northwest population of orcas also called killer whales was placed on the endangered species list in 2005. Snake River sockeye were the first species in the Columbia River Basin listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1991. On the way to the ocean, juvenile salmon can get chewed up in the dams turbines.
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Conservation groups upset by North Cascades grizzly decision
SPOKANE, Wash. The forested mountains in and around North Cascades National Park in north central Washington state have long been considered prime habitat for threatened grizzly bears, so environmental groups are upset the Trump administration scrapped plans to reintroduce the apex predators there. Grizzly bears only occupy less than 5% of their historic range, and the North Cascades presents prime habitat for grizzly bears,'' said Andrea Zaccardi, an attorney with the group. "Their recovery there is critical to the overall recovery of grizzly bears in the U.S.The center contends the North Cascades could support more than 700 grizzly bears over 9,000 square miles of habitat. Federal grizzly bear recovery plans are mandated by the Endangered Species Act and require grizzly recovery in the North Cascades, Gunnell said. Now the largest concentration of grizzlies, numbering less than 1,800, are around Montana's Glacier National Park and around Yellowstone National Park.