House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04)  released the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) biological opinion (BiOp) filed in federal court today:

“Dam removal extremist groups are dead wrong to label this Obama proposal as the same Bush BiOp from 2008.  The undeniable facts are that President Bush took dam removal off the table while this Obama BiOp puts Snake River dam removal back in play.  I’ve criticized this action and disagree with it strongly.  Science shows that dam removal isn’t proven to recover endangered fish, but it’s a rock-solid certainty that removal is an extreme action that would kill thousands of jobs and cause devastating economic harm across the Pacific Northwest.  Dam removal extremists should not be allowed to twist the facts and falsely attack the Obama BiOp in their single-minded crusade to tear out our valuable, clean energy, low-cost hydropower dams. 

“The extremists’ efforts to prolong this never-ending and expensive lawsuit need to be stopped and Northwest salmon recovery needs to get out of the courtroom.  Our river and economy shouldn’t be controlled by one federal judge, and the power bills of families and businesses across the region shouldn’t continue to be pushed higher and higher by unreasonable unproven demands for more spending.

“Let’s not forget the tremendous fish returns that we are seeing.  Across the board, this year’s runs are exceeding the previous ten-year average, and they’re on target to surpass any year since they were listed under the Endangered Species Act or before the Snake River dams were built.”

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