As Salmon Stage Disappearing Act, Dams May Too

The four dams that were built on Washington9s Snake River in the 1960s and 970s to generate power for the Pacific Northwest have proven to be deadly obstacles to millions of young Chinook salmon as they make their way to the open sea every spring, despite costly efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers to capture them and truck or barge them to the Columbia River, where they have an unfettered run at the Pacific. So opponents are now squaring off over a controversial proposal to save the salmon by breaching the dams, a solution that could cost up to $1.2 billion but which the National Marine Fisheries Service says is more likely than any other option to help salmon recover.