Today, Guardians and allies sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Marine Fisheries Service for their failure to protect and recover threatened fish in Oregon’s Willamette River.
Ninety-nine percent fewer Chinook salmon and steelhead returned to the Willamette last year than historically. The Corps’ dams on four of the Willamette’s tributaries block fish spawning grounds and are responsible for the drastic drop in numbers. For nearly a decade, the Service has been ordering the Corps to make changes to dam operations so fish populations can recover, but the Corps hasn’t listened.
Both fish have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1999. They should be on a trajectory of recovery, not one of decline. We will not stand idly by while these culturally important fish, which have thrived in the Pacific Northwest for generations, disappear on our watch.
Read the press release.
