Guest Column: Too many missing the point on salmon protections

As the hour of a final decision draws dangerously near on whether the federal government will uphold or cut summer spill - a key central component of Columbia Basin salmon recovery - it's past time that someone set the record straight. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has done a superb job misleading the general public about what's really at stake, claiming little harm to salmon and inflated savings.

Unfortunately, there are a few points that BPA is utterly ignoring. First, according to a new analysis, BPA's proposal to cut summer spill could actually kill around 700,000 young salmon, resulting in a loss of roughly 15,000 adult salmon. Second, it's no simple task to find actions that can mitigate for that substantial harm. As a result, BPA is searching high and low, and twisting arms to come up with a plan that will appease politicians. Among the options being peddled around is a proposal to place the burden of "offsetting" the harm squarely on the backs of fishing men and women. Fortunately, commercial and sport fishing industry representatives have united to reject that plan.