Losing our fish
We are losing our wild Idaho steelhead and chinook salmon. Why won’t our state officials tell us this?
In 2019, Gov. Brad Little convened a salmon workgroup to advise him on what should be done to save our fish. Four years have passed and we have heard nothing from Gov. Little.
In 1998, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission received a detailed report on the status of our fish from IDFG fisheries biologists. The commission issued a policy statement that determined the best way to save our fish was a return to a “natural river.” Twenty-six years have passed and the commission and department will not tell the Idaho public how the fish are doing.
Each year, IDFG biologists publish a study, “Wild Adult Steelhead and Chinook Salmon Abundance and Composition at Lower Granite Dam.” As required by law, this report is available to the public but only if one knows how to look it up on the web. Neither the commission nor the IDFG has publicized this report or its contents.
The most recent report concludes, in part, that for Idaho’s wild steehead “none of the genetic stocks had adult-to-adult productivitiy estimates that were above replacement.”
In plain English, at the current rate, we will lose our wild fish in all of Idaho’s rivers. This includes our wild B-run steelhead in all of the Clearwater drainage.
The Fish and Game Commission must tell Gov. Little and the public that Idaho is losing its wild fish.
Keith E. Carlson
Lewiston
New movie out soon
Maybe you’ve known one, too: a teenager who drives you a special kind of crazy (obviously not your own).
Maybe it’s the boy down the block, living in the small, sloppy-looking house. Drives way too fast, flashing the “finger-flip” when you yell, “Hey, slow down,” blowing cigarette smoke toward you as he goes. He’s a foul-mouthed “hell-raiser,” likely flunking out. Never in school. Routine parties at his house. Blasting stereo music. Must steal and do drugs. Probably the culprit who broke into the house next door. The kid’s trouble, and troubled. Where are his parents? A time or two, you’ve been tempted to grab that crazy, little punk up by the scruff of the neck and kindly let him know you’re there for him — should he ever need help moving.
Sure, kids go through phases, but you suspect this is different. In fact, if the boy doesn’t straighten out, there’s probably an orange jumpsuit in his future.
Well anyway, not your problem. Maybe he’ll eventually disappear — hopefully — into another neighborhood. Good riddance.
But a caring teacher in an entirely different scenario chose to peer into the dark, painful spaces driving a rebel, “lost-cause” teen instead and tried to help. It wasn’t easy.
“Brave the Dark” is the new movie by Angel Studios, based on a true story, coming to theaters (hopefully Lewiston’s ...) Jan. 24. It’s a gritty, bumpy, wild ride — this troubled boy’s story — but powerful and inspiring, too. It could shed some light.
Ronda Granlund
Clarkston
