Former President Ronald Reagan famously said, “Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” That sentiment holds true for the salmon in the Snake River Basin, where Bonneville Power Administration has overseen the destruction of wild salmon and steelhead while spending $24 billion in rate-payer money on failed mitigation. BPA has spent decades pouring cash into ineffective hatchery programs. The lower four Snake River dams are a problem, and we need our government to stop subsidizing them.

It is no surprise that a monstrous federal agency like BPA is resistant to change. Unfortunately, BPA has friends who also want to subsidize the status quo at the expense of the future of the region.

Earlier this month the U.S. House subcommittee on water, wildlife and fisheries, led by Chairman Cliff Bentz (R-Oregon), launched an investigation over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s September 2022 report on the Columbia hydroelectric system and on the dams on the Lower Snake River.

The committee is concerned that NOAA — the federal agency tasked with monitoring returns of ocean-going salmonids — is taking a proactive and realistic look at necessary steps for the recovery of the region’s iconic species. To be clear, NOAA has outlined the steps needed to recover wild Snake River salmon and steelhead and eventually remove them from listing under the Endangered Species Act. That is the kind of problem solving we should all be able to support. It seems Rep. Bentz’s committee would rather keep the region’s salmon and steelhead at the bare minimum — the bare minimum is what the ESA determines to be extinction level numbers, a far cry from healthy and harvestable numbers that those of us who live in the region overwhelmingly expect.

We already have broad, bipartisan agreement on recovery goals for salmon and steelhead in the Snake River Basin. The Columbia Basin Partnership was composed of state wildlife agencies, Tribal Nations, federal agencies and industry stakeholders from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The CBP agreed on healthy and harvestable recovery goals in 2020. Currently, we are far below those goals and BPA has no realistic plan to reverse the trend toward extinction for wild Snake River salmon and steelhead.

The Snake Basin contains a vast swath of pristine salmon habitat. It is 30,000 miles of accessible stream habitat in the highest elevation, most climate-resistant, wild country left in the Lower 48. It is the last, best place for salmon in the continental United States. Unfortunately, the lower four Snake River dams, stacked on top of the four lower Columbia River dams, have proven too much for wild stocks of salmon and steelhead, which historically had returned to Idaho in the millions. Since the completion of Ice Harbor Dam in 1962, salmon and steelhead have been on a downward trajectory. Harvest of wild salmon and steelhead has been outlawed in Idaho for 40 years, and 2023 returns are predicted to be some of the worst ever recorded.

In its letter announcing the intention to investigate NOAA, the Bentz-led committee acknowledged the long-standing problem of the lower four dams, while simultaneously seeking to uphold the current, broken system: “For more than two decades, there has been extensive, ongoing litigation over the Lower Snake River Dams.…”

The committee is right about litigation, and as salmon populations dwindle, those lawsuits carry larger consequences for the people who live and work in the region. BPA must start planning for a future without the lower four. Otherwise, it will be the tribes, the taxpayers and citizens of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana who will pay the steepest price.

Instead of prosecuting NOAA for seeking solutions, Chairman Bentz and the subcommittee on water, wildlife and fisheries should ask BPA why we are losing our salmon while subsidizing the status quo in the region to the tune of $24 billion.

Former President Reagan also said, “Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’”