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20 years later, Idaho’s salmon are still in danger of disappearing forever

In 2008, Larry McBrom of Baker City, Ore., fishes for steelhead below Hells Canyon Dam. Salmon runs above the dams have vanished, but steelhead from Idaho Power’s hatchery programs run upriver to Hells Canyon Dam.
In 2008, Larry McBrom of Baker City, Ore., fishes for steelhead below Hells Canyon Dam. Salmon runs above the dams have vanished, but steelhead from Idaho Power’s hatchery programs run upriver to Hells Canyon Dam. Darin Oswald Idaho Statesman
In 2008, Larry McBrom of Baker City, Ore., fishes for steelhead below Hells Canyon Dam. Salmon runs above the dams have vanished, but steelhead from Idaho Power’s hatchery programs run upriver to Hells Canyon Dam. Darin Oswald Idaho Statesman

Saving Salmon: A series by the Idaho Statesman

Salmon of the Northwest are the stuff of legends. Pioneers talked of rivers so thick that they were tempted to cross on the backs of the fish. But times have changed, the fish's numbers have plunged, and 13 species were placed on the endangered species list by 1995. Climate change and our network of hydropower dams have helped thwart attempts so far to find a sustainable solution. And it's possible some of our strategies — including our reliance on hatcheries — have backfired.

Read the first story in the series here.

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