Honorable John Kitzhaber
Governor of Oregon
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
October 12, 2014
Re: An Open Letter to Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber from Sen. Bill Hansell
Dear Governor Kitzhaber,
Governor, what are you thinking? I just learned that the state of Oregon, via the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department, is joining other plaintiffs in challenging the Northwest’s salmon recovery plan in federal court, seeking more spill at the federal dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
My Senate District 29 especially, and all Oregon taxpayers, will be adversely affected. Who is advising you on this issue? I know it is not the comprehensive groups of supporters of the plan – federal agencies, over a dozen Northwest tribes, as well as the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. I urge you to withdraw the lawsuit and consider the following:
1. NOAA Fisheries, together with federal action agencies – the Bonneville Power Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation – are implementing a plan, known as the FCRPS Biological Opinion, that is working. Record numbers of salmon are returning to our rivers, yet Oregon has fought it from the beginning. Why not join in the collaboration, as other Northwest states and tribes have done, and give the current Biological Opinion the opportunity to continue proving itself?
2. Salmon returns are of vital importance to the Northwest Native American tribes. They, with the exception of one tribe, are supporting the current plan. What do your advisors know that would put you on the opposite side of over a dozen Northwest tribes?
3. Who is going to pay for this lawsuit? I assume it is the Oregon taxpayers.
4. Have you or any of your advisors looked at what added spill might cost Northwest ratepayers in increased power costs? Oregon’s previous and thoroughly discredited spill test proposal would have cost Northwest families and businesses $1 billion over 10 years. Regarding the local impact to my district, Umatilla Electric forecasts it would have cost its customers $1 million annually for this experiment.
5. And what about the science that tells us that increased spills will kill fish, not help them survive? So you want to promote additional spill that could harm or kill salmon and other aquatic species rather than help them? Governor, what are you thinking?
6. You have appointed, with the Senate’s approval, the ODF&W Commission. This citizen board is to be consulted, informed and empowered to help provide direction for the department. It bothers me greatly that they have been told only after the fact about this ill-conceived and expensive lawsuit. Perhaps if they had been given the opportunity to weigh in, this flawed approach would have been shelved. Why are you choosing to bypass this citizen commission? Most likely this group would tell you and your advisors they would not be supportive of this position.
So Governor, let us recap what is happening: the good state of Oregon is suing, using tax dollars, to try to scuttle a wildly successful restoration program that is the largest in the country for a species, to pursue added spill operations that will harm and kill the Northwest iconic salmon at considerable cost to state and local ratepayers.
Governor, what are you thinking?
I urge you to withdraw this lawsuit immediately. And please look at the facts before entering into any more lawsuits. Oregon needs to be a team player in the region, not suing others when it doesn’t get its way. Governor, I respectfully ask that you please change your thinking and join with us in support of the FCRPS Biological Opinion that is working to bring salmon back to our Oregon rivers.
Sincerely,
Bill Hansell
Senator, District 29
