Kathryn Brigham: Tribes work together to restore salmon runs

Thursday, November 1, 2012  

"Amidst the mud-slinging in Columbia River salmon politics, citizens of the Pacific Northwest should know that there is a path forward. That path forward is not the current allocation fight playing out in the lower Columbia River but working together to rebuild abundance.

Ballot Measure 81 and Governor Kitzhaber’s proposal distract us by focusing on who gets to catch the fish rather than uniting the region to work together to improve salmon runs.

When the region fights over fisheries, we miss the larger opportunity — rebuilding abundance. By trusting our professional fisheries managers to advise us on responsible harvest, we are able to focus on what is important; working together. We have seen salmon runs grow in the last decade, even in areas blocked to salmon for a century."

Get the Story:
N. Kathryn “Kat” Brigham / Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission: Abundance will save salmon, not greed (The Salem Statesman-Journal 11/1)