Nearly 9,000 people attended 15 recently completed federal hearings on salmon recovery and the future of the four Washington dams. About 30,000 people submitted testimony, either in person, in writing, through e-mail or via cassette recordings. Not that the feds were surprised by the interest. Breaching Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams has been the subject of intense debate and media coverage. Breaching earthen sections of the dams would allow the river to flow unimpeded, stilling the dams' turbines and draining the reservoirs behind them.
Many scientists say it's the surest way to restore salmon runs on the Snake River.
Many farmers, politicians, and business and labor leaders say it would wreck the economy. D.C. Virtually no politician in the region, including presidential candidates, has escaped the issue. No one has tallied all costs of the hearings to the fisheries service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, BPA and six other agencies. Each agency had to pay travel expenses for decision-makers and support staff. But that only takes into account the people willing to speak publicly in a crowded room, not those who found other ways to testify.