Public comment on Snake River dams report will be taken telephonically due to coronavirus

Federal agencies have canceled a slate of in-person hearings in Washington and Oregon to discuss plans for the Snake River dams, citing concern over the spread of the coronavirus.

A March 25 meeting in Spokane to take public comment on the federal report, which advised against removal of the dams for environmental and economic reasons, is part of the cancellations. Meetings also were scheduled in Lewiston, Kennewick, Seattle, Portland and Kalispell, Montana.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration will instead hold a series of teleconferences to accept public comments on the plan. The first will take place Tuesday.

Multiple conservation groups authored a letter this week requesting the federal agencies not only cancel the in-person meetings following orders by the governors of Oregon and Washington to avoid large gatherings, but also to extend the 45-day comment period that began Feb. 28. The groups, which include The Lands Council, Save our Wild Salmon Coalition, Idaho Rivers United and more, argued that 45 days is not long enough to review the study, which includes thousands of pages of fish and water level research.

“Frankly, I think we find the whole process so deeply flawed,” said Sam Mace, Inland Northwest director of Save our Wild Salmon.

Conservation groups and tribes argue breaching the four dams on the lower Snake River would restore natural salmon migration and the native lands that were inundated when the dams were built, starting in the 1960s. The federal report, whose completion was hastened by the Trump administration, advised against it, noting the expensive replacement of the hydropower generated by the dams and that goods barged on the river would have to be transported in other, more fossil fuel-dependent ways.

Removal would require an act of Congress, and the region’s Republican lawmakers have said they oppose breaching.

Comments may be submitted online at comments.crso.info. Callers may join the teleconferences, which will begin at 4 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and again on March 25, 26 and 31. The toll free number is (844) 721-7241, and you must use access code 5998146#.

Public comments will be taken through April 13.