Oregon Businesses Ask Oregon Leaders to Help Un-dam the Snake River
By Columbia Riverkeeper
Oregon businesses sent a letter asking Oregon elected officials to help remove Lower Snake River dams. The letter signed by close to 70 businesses—addressed to Representative DeFazio, Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden and others—calls on them to support an ongoing collaboration between Tribes, state and federal policymakers, and the Biden Administration to remove the Lower Snake River dams and re-invest in river communities and infrastructure.
The request highlights the importance of salmon and un-damming the Snake River dam to a wide range of Oregon businesses. For many Oregon businesses, Snake River dam removal is a moral issue as well as an economic one.
“As a fisherman and an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe, I have a cultural connection to the Salmon as they are ones that sustain my peoples existence and wellbeing. My people also have traditions of trade and commerce that predate colonization and the dams that followed that continue to this day,” said Lukas Angus of 7 Waters Sovereign Foods LLC. “Article 3 of the Treaty of 1855 states, among other things, ‘The right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places.’ How are we to do this if there are no Salmon left? So the damming of the rivers including the four lower Snake River dams is continuing to threaten extinction of the Salmon, Indigenous ways of life, and is an affront to Tribal Sovereignty. THE DAMS NEED TO COME DOWN…NOW!”
“The letter stresses that dam removal shouldn’t be a win-or-lose proposition for people in the Pacific Northwest,” said Aaron Colter, Owner of Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon. “Oregon business owners are coming together to make sure that our elected officials in Oregon understand the urgency and importance of this issue. Let’s make it impossible for them to ignore!”
“We stand in solidarity against extinction and want to help send a strong message to our elected officials that saving salmon from extinction and restoring a free-flowing river is a priority for Oregon business owners,” said Abram Tannenbaum, co-owner of Grapevine Outdoor, an advertising company based in Portland. Grapevine co-sponsored a “Free the Snake” double-wallscape advertising sign in downtown Portland on NW 15th Ave and Everett street, in collaboration with 1% for the Planet, as well as helped support multiple other billboards for the campaign.
Columbia Riverkeeper helped coordinate and deliver this letter. Columbia Riverkeeper is a nonprofit organization with over 16,000 members and supporters that works to protect the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it, from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean.
The letter is below:
July 12, 2022
Congressman Peter DeFazio
405 East 8th Ave., #2030
Eugene, OR 97401
Sent via email to: KP.Pratt@mail.house.gov
Re: Act now to stop the extinction of Snake River salmon.
Dear Representative DeFazio,
We are Oregon small businesses, including fishers, farmers, food distributors, wholesale and retail market owners, brewers, restaurant owners, healers, artists, real estate professionals, and many others. In short, we are businesses in Oregon that oppose the extinction of Snake River salmon. For Oregonians, salmon is more than a fish. More than a food, a product, or a brand, it is a critical part of our ecosystem and is deeply connected to our sense of place and our cultural identity.
But salmon in the Columbia River basin are struggling. Urgent work is needed to prevent extinction and restore abundance in a way that brings everyone—including Oregon businesses—forward together. We recognize and appreciate your efforts to date to protect salmon in the Pacific Northwest, and we ask for your bold leadership at this moment of great urgency and opportunity.
We strongly support the ongoing collaboration between Tribes, stakeholders, state and federal policymakers, and the Biden Administration to remove the Lower Snake River dams and re-invest in our communities and critical infrastructure. With today’s technology, we can replace the services that the Snake River dams provide and accomplish the greatest salmon restoration project in our nation’s history. We need your committed leadership and engagement to make the most of this political moment.
Snake River salmon visit Oregon twice in their lives, as they migrate to and from the
ocean. As a keystone species, salmon help define our ecosystem. So much so that nutrients from salmon can be found in the trees. Over 135 species depend on salmon, including the thousands of people who fish for them each year. Losing these fish would directly affect Oregon businesses, families, Tribes, and our shared environment. Therefore, you should begin treating Snake River dam removal as a crucial “Oregon” issue.
Salmon do not have a choice. We do. This moment calls for urgent action. In 2022, we ask you to help deliver legislation to remove Lower Snake River dams, recover salmon, provide justice to Tribes, and invest in critical infrastructure. Thank you for considering our concerns and interests. Please contact us if you have any questions or if we can assist in any way.
Signed:
Climate Change Recovery
Polarity Center of Salem
Meadow Goldman Yoga Therapy and Massage LLC
VistaBarn
Spitaleri Handlin Bookkeeping and Tax Service Inc
Urban Inspection, LLC
Roots Realty
Oregon Photo Adventure
Keel Energy
Easy Living LLC
Melanie McCloskey Coaching
Craft o graph
WyEast Expeditions
Janet Kirkland, PhD, PC; Psychology Practice
Woodlawn Coffee and Pastry
Landstar
Teton NewMedia Inc.
Timbercrest LLC
A-Z Studios LLC
LisaECohn.com
Notable Academy
Pine Dune Pottery
Joyce Follingstad, Ph.D.
Lovely Harvest
Morgaine Faye
Dekum Street Theater
Ex Novo Brewing Co.
PT Lawn Seed
Joan Horton, CPA
Christine Bourdette Studio, LLC
JC Customs
Bluebug Arts
Keath A Silva
Home Team Realty
Zócalo Wellness
SAS Holdings, LLC
Eurofaux
Lorena Sprager and Associates, LLC
Laughing Mountain, LLC
Give&Take Resale
Kasama Farm
Illumination Rock Integrative Medicine
Banner Non-profits, LLC
Teresa Keane Consulting
Gabriel's Bakery
The Pet Fund
Caspian Properties LLC
Hood River Pedicab, EV Taxi & Delivery
Birdsmouth Design-Build
Plazm Media, Inc.
Dancing Redband Publications
Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio
7 Waters Sovereign Foods LLC
Alan De Anda GIS Analyst
Your Personal Ceremony
Blue Ox Tattoo
Scout Bee Farm
City Bookkeeper, Accounting
The Fossil Cartel
Katy Weaver Photography
Albina City Nuts - Manufacturing
Vertical Grain Consulting
Seed Network of Oregon
Evergreen Sustainability LLC
Spire Technologies, Inc.
Clinton Street Theater
Wayward & Wild
Aesthete Tea
Grapevine Outdoor
