SALMON ENDANGERED

What salmon mean to many Idahoans

The Nez Perce Indians called this river Natsoh Koos, Chinook Salmon Water. And to the Lemhi Shoshoni, Sacagawea's people, it was Aggipah, Big Fish Water. Since the beginning of America's recorded history, the Salmon River has borne the name of the giant fish.

The migratory journey of the salmon is one of the world's great natural wonders. For thousands of years, young fish born in the streams of the Salmon River country migrated to the Pacific Ocean. That's a journey of almost 1000 miles. They roam in the ocean for thousands of miles; then, upon reaching maturity in the ocean, these great fish return to their ancestral birthplaces to reproduce and to die.

This life cycle of the salmon is important to many people in the West.

But this national treasure is now threatened with imminent extinction. In 1985, Snake River coho salmon were declared extinct. In 1991, it was the sockeye salmon that were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In 1992, spring, summer and fall Chinook were listed as threatened.

The salmon numbers have plummeted with the construction of each new dam on the Snake and Columbia rivers between Idaho and the ocean. The eight dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, have made it difficult for young salmon to be flushed to the ocean in an appropriate amount of time. And they have made it difficult for returning salmon to navigate the concrete structures.