Editor’s note: The video above was originally published in January 2019.
SALEM, Ore. - Oregon's governor is in favor of removing four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River in Washington state.
Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, sent a letter to Washington’s Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee saying she believes it is the best way to increase endangered salmon runs.
The Tri-City Herald reported the letter outraged Washington state’s three Republican U.S. House members, who want to keep the dams.
The dams generate electricity, provide some irrigation and flood control, and allow barges to operate all the way to Lewiston, Idaho.
But the dams are also blamed for killing salmon and steelhead that are migrating to the ocean or back to their spawning grounds.
In May, Gov. Inslee signed a bill providing $750,000 to study how to best help impacted communities if the four federal dams on the Snake River are breached.