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What do the Lower Snake River dams have to do with me? A lot.
Growing up on the Oregon coast, the first orca I saw was Keiko the killer whale at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I remember the excitement leading up to that field trip; we learned about whales and made greeting cards for Keiko welcoming him to his new home. Walking up to his tank, my heart sank seeing an orca in captivity. I knew Keiko was meant to be in the wild.
You may read the headlines that Southern Resident orcas are on the verge of extinction because salmon populations are dwindling. The story of an orca mother mourning her dead calf by pushing it with her head for over two weeks and 1,000 miles still brings me to tears.
Fortunately, there is something we can do for orcas and salmon. The Lower Four Snake River dams have been driving salmon to extinction for decades, and the Southern Resident orcas that range from Puget Sound to Northern California depend on those salmon to survive. Those dams might feel far away from Lincoln County, but they affect the entire West Coast and anyone who chases salmon here.
On Tuesday, April 5, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley is hosting a virtual town hall in Lincoln County. Ask him to stand up for salmon, orca and tribal rights by breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams. This year we have a limited window to convince our elected leaders to authorize dam removal and replace the services dams provide. It’s that simple; we have a solution in front of us. It is time to act.
Today, I have a daughter, and I think about her future every single day. What kind of planet are we leaving our children? If we don’t act quickly, the only way she’ll see an orca is in captivity — if at all.
Liz Chapman Terhaar
Columbia Riverkeeper Communications Director ( and former News-Times reporter)
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