Snake River Dam Debate

SALMON RECOVERY AND

Snake River Dam Removal Town Hall Debate

Assignment

For this assignment, we are going to ask you to assume a role related to the FOUR SNAKE RIVER DAMS CONTROVERSY. Even if you don’t agree with your role entirely, please embrace it, and be ready to argue wholeheartedly from that perspective.

For the debate, we’d like you to come prepared with some “ammunition” to help you argue:

• • _____ Two quotes from “Encounters with the Archdruid” which illuminate or illustrate your position. You may consider Gifford Pinchot’s “Fight for Conservation” (course site) and John Muir’s “Hetch Hetchy” (course site). Of course, if you drop some Emersonian and Thoreauvian concepts on us, you win!.

  • _____Two pieces of evidence that you’ve obtained from the "Lower Snake River Dam Research." The facts should support your position, but you should look to the counter argument to anticipate how to respond. See the Lower Snake River Dam Resources research link on the course site.

  • _____ ONE PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTATION RHETORICAL MOVE PREPARED: create counterargument, concede, converse.

Roles:

PRESERVATION:

SALMON RECOVERY AND THE DAM REMOVAL PERSPECTIVE

1 You are a Nez Perce Native American, a member of the traditional peoples who once relied upon the wild sockeye and king salmon runs to live. You would like to continue your culture and livelihood with wild, not hatchery salmon. Your spirituality is grounded in a deep connection to wild salmon and their formidable spirit. Your parents once fished for wild salmon on the salmon river where it is now a reservoir of slack water. You believe your people will return to more spiritual ways if the wild sockeye salmon runs return. Make a cultural argument for the removal of the four Snake River dams. ( Briggs )

2 You run a Salmon River guide service that specialized in taking clients on guided fishing and whitewater trips down the Snake River in the stretches that are now hundreds of feet under water. The four Snake River dams decimated your business because most of your permits were for these stretches now underwater. This put your ten guides out of work. Make a utilitarian argument for the removal of the dams. (Henry)

3 You are a landscape photographer and passionate advocate for wilderness. You have spent years traveling throughout central and northern Idaho and have come to love it: the changeable seasons, free-flowing rivers, and stark landscape.Try to convey your near-religious love for the landscape by making an argument against the dams that emphasizes the aesthetic value of wild places. ( Tess )

4 You are an Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Idaho and fish biologist. Your area of study is “Nutrient Cycling in the Salmon River Ecosystem.” As a result, you have a scientist's understanding of the importance of biodiversity, salmon carcasses and the food web, and the interconnectedness of the Salmon River ecosystem and the Columbia River system and the Salmon of the Northern Pacific. You are also an expert on all of the threatened and endangered salmon in the region that are negatively impacted by the dams. You have studied the issue of the waning wild sockeye and king salmon runs in the Snake and Salmon River ecosystems. You admire the evolutionary genius of the wild salmon to return to their spawning grounds on the banks of the Salmon river near Redfish Lake, and you lament the in breeding of hatchery salmon and wild salmon. You advocate the removal of the hatchery program on the Snake and Salmon Rivers. The false sense of reality these "Frankenfish" create dulls people's understanding of the impact of the dams upon wild sALmon. You believe that the Salmon River must retain its namesake by having wild, native salmon returning to their spawning grounds. Make an argument for the removal of the dams based on the importance of biodiversity. ( Bergen )

5 You are an Executive Director of National Resources Defense Council and have taken on the project of helping Idahoans become informed about American Environmental laws related to the the Endangered Species Act and the recent proposal to reduce "spilling" for salmon recovery. Specifically address why spilling needs to return to 2006 levels and why we need to remove the dams in order to comply with the Endangered Species Act. See this course site page. ( Matt )

6 You are an Idahoan expert on non-polluting, sustainable, renewable energy sources of wind power, solar power, and geothermal power. You need to make the argument that these energy sources would benefit Idahoans, be less impactful on salmon and the river ecosystem, and keep energy bills per household down. ( Sophia )

UTILITARIAN:

DAM RETENTION

AND HATCHERY SALMON PERSPECTIVE

1 You run a roofing shingle factory in Lewiston and this factory depends on reliable, cheap power and the shipment of the raw materials for your shingles on barges up the Columbia and Snake Rivers. You also rely on the inexpensive means of shipping your finished shingles to Seattle and from there to the world market. With the dismantling of the railroad, you could not reach your profitable markets by shipping your shingles via trucks. You employ more than 5,000 Lewstonians in your factory, and you take pride in considering the work in your factory as a bridge to prosperity and the middle-class. Without reliable power and shipping on the Snake and Columbia Rivers, however, you worry that your factory will close. Make a utilitarian argument in support of the retention of the four Snake dams. ( Isabella )

2 You are an Executive Engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation and your job is to oversee the maintenance of all four lower Snake River dams. You were witness to the high utility bills and impoverished communities before these dams were built. You consider this dams not only a renewable, non-polluting source of power for locals in Idaho, but also an opportunity for local utility companies to make money by selling the power through the grid to California. To remove the dams would be akin to increasing local power bills and robbing the utility companies of a chance to make money. Make a utilitarian argument in support of the retention of the dams. ( Skylar )

3 You are a barley farmer near Orifino. You sell your barley to Budweiser and make a healthy profit in doing so. Your fields would be "dry as English humor" if you did not have reliable irrigation from the reservoir from Lower Granite dam. You can’t understand WHY Idahoans would support the breaching of the dams when the most Patriotic of beers is made from the water these dams store. Make an economic and patriotic argument in support of the retention of the dams. ( Charlie )

4 You are a Idaho Republican Representative for northern Idaho and were elected by the people of this region to retain the dams, ensure the economic viability of the region, reduce utility bills per household and small businesses, and maintain the fish hatcheries that release thousands of salmon smolts that are caught by hordes of fisherman (a million dollar industry for the towns of Lewiston and Riggins) so northern Idaho can thrive economically and compete. Make a speech about why the retention of the dams is integral to your retention of your campaign promises. ( Rachel )

5 You are the Director of Recreation and Tourism in northern and central Idaho. You have conducted a poll that reveals that Idahoans prefer the recreational opportunities of a reservoir to the recreational opportunities of wild rivers. You conducted a study that shows that 400,000 people would visit the four reservoirs created by the four lower Snake River dams each year and generate 3 million dollars for the local economies. You have witnessed the enjoyment people receive from houseboats, powerboats, jet skis, and bass fishing. You are a firm believer that more Americans and foreign tourists will experience the beauty of Idaho in the future if the reservoirs remain and make nature accessible to many who otherwise would not experience it. ( )

6 You are a fisheries biologist and are employed by the Idaho Fish and Game Hatchery Program on the Salmon River. You have studied the issue of the waning wild sockeye and king salmon runs in the Snake and Salmon River ecosystems. While you admire the evolutionary genius of the wild salmon to return to their spawning grounds on the banks of the Salmon river near Redfish Lake, you have concluded that with the current need for the four Lower Snake River dams and the four Columbia river dams, the consistent release of hatchery salmon and their return to the hatchery sites is the best compromise. You believe that the Salmon River can retain its namesake, fishermen can catch hatchery salmon, and the river ecosystem can retain the nutrient influx from salmon carcasses by retaining the dams and the hatchery salmon programs. ( Caroline )

7 You are an Idahoan who lives in Lewiston. You work as a clerk in the Department of Motor Vehicles. You’ve never visited Redfish Lake or the wild, undammed stretches of the Salmon River. (you’re not very interested in hiking or camping, and have never seen any reason to go). You’re not sure if you’re for or against the dam. You like how low your energy bill is, but you could also be convinced that removal of the dams could be sound policy. Listen to the arguments that others make, and then ask questions that might help you decide! (Kai )