"Last year, the federal salmon plan said times were so good that we could ignore the impact of dams.

Good enough is over. We're now back in the extinction arena because the spring chinook run has nearly disappeared from the Columbia River.

Along the river many tribal people count on this spring run for religious ceremonies.

'Some ceremonies have gone ahead with one -- or in one case, zero -- fish,' says Mike Matylewich, a fisheries scientist for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. At the Celilo Longhouse ceremony, the sponsors had to use frozen salmon to feed those who participated."

Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Salmon tell us good times are over (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4/24)

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