American Notes

People in the Pacific Northwest may love the Snake River sockeye salmon, but they are also fond of the cheap hydroelectric power that makes utility rates in their region among the lowest in the nation. Soon they may have to decide which they love more. Eight power-generating dams built along the Columbia River since the late 1930s have fatally disrupted the path by which thousands of the salmon once swam 900 miles eastward from the Pacific Ocean to spawning grounds in the Snake River basin. Last year fishery-service counters there spotted just one lonesome sockeye.

In an attempt to save the fish, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed to have it added to the endangered and threatened species list. If the effort succeeds -- the process might take a year -- the Federal Government could order a costly diversion of water into the river to create currents strong enough to push the young fish along their way to sea. That could also lead to a one-third jump in regional utility rates and trigger another battle like the one over the spotted owl, pitting environmentalists against those concerned about the economy. "Salmon are at the center of the Northwest culture," insists Robert Irvin, an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation. True enough. But so is cheap electricity.