Unfortunately, Dr. Nelson chose to ignore the facts. Sockeye salmon were listed as endangered in 1991. Steelhead were listed as threatened in 1997. Harmony is not the word I would use to describe this disastrous reality. Idaho's salmon and steelhead are hurting.
Dams are the problem.
In the 1950s and '60s, there was a salmon and steelhead run of about 100,000 fish in the lower Snake River. The Columbia River dams had taken a toll, but the population was sustaining itself, people and industry. Since the completion of the last of four lower Snake dams in 1975, the run has decreased by 90 percent. Last year, one sockeye salmon returned to Redfish Lake. While Dr. Nelson and some folks in industry would have us believe that dams are not the problem for Idaho's wild salmon, virtually all available science says otherwise.