We’re In This Together — Oregon Stepping Up to Save the Southern Resident Orcas

In this time of uncertainty, you might like to hear some hopeful news for our struggling endangered southern resident orcas. 

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Miles Ritter

In a February letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown laid out a short-term and long-term vision for recovering salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin, including commit-ting to finding a comprehensive solution to the biggest barrier to orca recovery – the four lower Snake River dams. The letter is a significant voice on a controversial subject. It is also a strong show of leadership from Gov Brown, and of Oregon’s commitment to finding a solution to the decades long struggle of salmon and orca recovery in the Pacific Northwest.

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Miles Ritter

Most Oregonians think of the southern resident orcas as “Washington’s orcas.” Few people are aware that these orcas travel down the Oregon coast to spend fall and winter at the mouth of the Columbia River sustaining themselves almost exclusively on Oregon’s chinook salmon. The Columbia basin’s largest tributary, the Snake River, historically produced about half the fish in the basin, but today, less than 1% of wild Snake River chinook return in the spring run. One of the biggest factors contributing to this problem are the lower Snake River dams. These dams are responsible for high juvenile and adult mortality because they block fish passage and they increase water temperature to lethal levels for salmon. 

As goes the salmon, so goes the orca – and only 72 orcas remain in the three pods combined, making Oregon’s role especially critical in ensuring their survival and recovery.

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Ryan Hagerty/USFWS

Gov. Brown’s letter provides a refreshing ray of hope by acknowledging the endangered orcas as Oregon’s, too, and by proposing a list of solutions to address the multifaceted challenge of removing the four lower dams. Gov. Brown emphasized the need for “an affordable, nimble and reliable power system that can help us to integrate renewables to meet our climate goals; continues water supply for agriculture and municipalities; and efficient and affordable ways to get commodities to market.”