They are part of our religious beliefs and they've been part of our life practice for years and years. Keith Tinno, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe in Fort Hall, Idaho, was among the Native American contingent to speak in support of salmon. When Moses' ancestors lived and fished in the Pacific Northwest, an estimated 4 million salmon and steelhead returned to the Snake River each year. Today only 10,000 wild fish remain, and studies show some of the endangered stocks could be extinct as early as 2017 if current conditions prevail. The four Lower Snake River dams were completed in 1975.
Scientists blame the demise of the salmon on the dams.
The Corps has said the best way to save the salmon is to restore the Snake to its natural state, which means breaching the dams. Congress has final say on the issue. Even if its vote is to breach the dams, it will take eight or nine years before Snake flows naturally again, said Corps representative Nola Conway. Jon Wells, a farmer from Castleford, Idaho, showed little sympathy for the endangered fish. I'd like to see a wooly mammoth.