White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1925-03-20
JUST ANOTHER STEP
TOWARDS THE dam

| What is characterized as anothel
step towards the building of tn,
Priest Rapids dam occurred last Sat
urday when the land Office at Yak
ina received notice from the Depart
ment of the Interior withdrawing
from the entry three islands in tn.
Columbia river at Priest Rapids
There are over three hundred acre.
in the islands but they are only bar,
rem and rocky formations. The dam
when constructed, will rest on thess
islands.
The fishery interests are again
protesting against the building of the
dam, setting up their old claim tina,
such a high obstruction in the Col
unbia river would destroy S5,00o,.
900 annual industry in thet it would
prevent the salmon from reaching
their spawning grounds in the upper
reaches of the river. But. inasnuct
as the water power leasing board had
this protest before them when they
issued the permanent license for the
dam and the futhcr fact that the leas-
ing company has already worked out
a method of taking the fish UP over
the dam and will undoubtedly evolve
a plan for bringing the small fish
down, it is not probable that this last
protest will get very far.
An interesting Eastern viewpoint on
the fishery question as it applies to
the Priest Rapids development is
covered in an cdioral in the last
Youths Companion, which reads:
"Who owns river, the fisherman
who used it first the farmer who
comes later and uses its waters to
irrigate his lands, or the plain citizen
to whom the industrial water power
development mot yet begun would
mean employment?
"The Columbia River salmon may
be the cause of great legal battle.
The proposed great Upper Columbia
irrigation and power projects would
reclaim almost two million acres of
farming land and would also furnish
enough power to supply small ma
ton. The Lower Columbia fishermen
declare that the dams would prevent
the salmon from spawning on the up
per river and SO would kill the-one-
hundred-year- old salmon industry that
now supports fifty thousand people.
ITO give over the river exclusively
to the fish and the fishermen might
keep half million people out Of per-
n,anent industry anei good homes
The major part of the fishing indus
try is in Oregon, the great land and
power development would be in
Washington, many of the best spawn
ing streams are in Canada and Idaho.
Those states generally hold to the
legal theory that water is appurtena1t
to the land for irrigation or indust-
rial purposes; and much Of the land
that the Columbia traverses is arid
and valueless witli6dt irrigation. But
the upper states also like the salmon
that come from the sea. and they
have never been called upon to decide
between the conflicting interests of
the fifty thousand river fishermen,
their own. sport and food and the
farmers and those who would use the
water power.
aThe question raised here, which is
at the foundation of home-building
and other Industries that depend on
land titles. seems to become one Of
public policy, regardless of priority
ard and is most difficult matter to
decide. If it were your fishing Heet
or your land or your sport or job
that you were to get when they de-
velop that million horse power, what
should you do2"