A new hero
Oh wow. Our president is releasing government files about the darkest points in American history.
Put as much credit in them as you do the “patriots” who tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
Not happy with power. Trying to rewrite history.
Also, Pam Hemphill is stronger and braver than all Republican legislators put together. I have a new hero.
Thank you, Pam.
Brad Stewart
Lewiston
Some fish numbers
Fellow Idahoans and Northwest anglers: I don’t like it when people tell me what to think and neither should you.
Public information is available from Fish Passage Center for smolt transportation and data access in real-time records for the number of adults passing over dams every year.
Lower Granite Dam (1998-2009): An average of 5,836,060 salmon and steelhead smolts were transported annually; a low of 2,516,948 in 2007 and a high of 12,09,9019 in 2005.
Adult returns from those out-migration years average 449,982 salmon and steelhead (2001-11), a high of 520,665 in 2001 and 567,932 in 2009. These returns followed years when smolts were transported.
After the peak of smolt migration in 2005, a federal court order forcing massive spill began to move smolts downstream. This flow drew smolts away from the transportation collection and diverted them through the spillway. This has decreased smolt transportation to an average of 2,678,837 per year and a low of 271,814 smolts in 2024.
Adult returns from 2012-24 plunged to an average of 227,547 salmon and steelhead with a low of 98,778 adults in 2019. This crash occurred following reduced barging of smolts. A decrease of this magnitude indicates the returns of 2026 and 2027 may be a disaster.
Many factors affect returning salmon and steelhead. It’s reckless fisheries management to ignore the fact of higher fish returns following years of transporting smolts.
Don’t tell me what to think. The adult returns following higher smolt transportation years are better than years of court-ordered spill.
Jerry McGehee
Lewiston
Quit the name-calling
In the Jan. 30 issue of the Trib, I noticed a letter from Rick Rogers headlined “A ridiculous proposal,” where he takes offense with Washington HB 1152.
I normally find Mr. Rogers’ letters interesting, even if I’m usually in total disapproval of his perspective. So, for my own entertainment, I opted to read it. Surprisingly, I found myself being fairly sympathetic to his views until I got near the end of his harangue where he attached the word “idiot” as a moniker to the name of Gov. Bob Ferguson.
Rick, what gives you the right to refer to anyone as an “idiot,” especially a governor? So at that point, Rick, you lost me. It makes me confirm what I always thought before, namely that you are an angry man. Leave the name-calling to your favorite president.
Lynn Youngblood
Moscow
