Tag: salmon

Today in the Sixth Extinction

By Erik Loomis

In General

On September 23, 2019

Ever since the giant dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers were constructed in the mid-20th century, people have known that they destroy salmon runs. The 4 huge dams on the lower Snake are particularly awful and unnecessary. But because the people in Lewiston are really proud of their stupid worthless port and because for […]

General

How to Save Our Salmon and Our Orcas

By Erik Loomis

On August 19, 2018

The story of the Puget Sound orca carrying around her dead calf for over 2 weeks is incredibly sad and moved a lot of people. That pod of orcas, one of the defining animals of the Northwest, is in dan

General

How Western Industrial Interests Are Relying on Trump to Eviscerate Decades of Environmental Protections

By Erik Loomis

On August 11, 2017

In the West, legal decisions to protect animals instead of allowing for the unregulated exploitation of the natural world continue to outrage already profitable industries. Never mind that the protect

Salmon, Dams, and Climate Change

By Erik Loomis

In General

On May 25, 2016

As the endless battle to manage salmon in the Columbia River basin marches on, the courts are now forcing the govenrment agencies that manage salmon to respond to new data on how climate change will affect the salmon, making a harder case that the government is actually protecting the salmon under the Endangered Species Act. […]

General

Dam Removal

By Erik Loomis

On December 5, 2015

I realize that most LGM readers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about western natural resource politics. But these issues are central to understanding the politics of the West, particularly w

General

The Future Is Now in the Northwest

By Erik Loomis

On August 2, 2015

Having started my annual summer trip to see family in the Pacific Northwest, it’s incredibly depressing to see what’s happening to the climate and thus the ecology of the place I grew up.

Billy Frank, Jr., RIP

By Erik Loomis

In General

On May 9, 2014

Billy Frank, Jr., the Nisqually fishing rights advocate, has died at the age of 83. Frank was a key figure in pressing Native American fishing claims in Washington during the 1960s and 1970s. This was a time with plummeting salmon runs thanks to industrialization, stream bed and water degradation, and massive overfishing. Of course, the […]

General

Frankenstein Wildlife Management

By Erik Loomis

On April 28, 2012

There’s a lot of weird wildlife management going on in the Pacific Northwest. First, you have the killing of barred owls in order to save spotted owls. The barred owls have naturally migrated to