Change.org - Devastating salmon populations

Janelle is a young Indigenous woman standing up to a hydroelectric dam that is devastating the salmon sacred to her community. The Gorge dam in Washington has impeded salmon migration and impacted entire ecosystems. Other dams like it have been removed for the same reason. Join Janelle in defending the environment and her tribe’s home – add your name. Return the Sacred Skagit, Remove the Gorge Dam 5,545 have signed Janelle Schuyler’s petition. Let’s get to 7,500!

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My name is Janelle, and I am a young member of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. We have fished, hunted and practiced our traditional way of life here in our Northwest Washington river valley since time immemorial – but a huge hydroelectric dam is threatening our sacred salmon and our way of life. Seattle City Light operates the Ross, Diablo and Gorge dams on the Skagit River, where wild salmon, steelhead and bull trout populations have continued to decline despite being listed on the federal Endangered Species List. Other salmon stocks also have declined. It’s time to seriously consider removing the Gorge dam. Building on the success of removing thousands of small dams in the United States, many large dams have been removed or are in the planning phase for removal. In our region, we have seen the Elwha River dams and the Middle Fork Nooksack dam come down to improve habitat for salmon. This dam has caused environmental harm for over a century now and continues to dewater a nearly three-mile stretch of the Skagit River, referred to as the bypass, cutting off spawning and rearing habitat below the dam. It interrupts fish migration for almost 40 percent of the entire watershed, sequesters wood and sediment, and impacts water quality and downstream productivity. The Skagit River is sacred to the people who have inhabited the Skagit Valley since time immemorial. We can’t allow Seattle City Light to continue to profit by dewatering the river to generate power. Adult steelhead and coho salmon fry have been observed in the Gorge bypass reach upstream of an area that Seattle City Light claims is a natural barrier to fish passage. Historical accounts describe significant loss of salmon runs, but the utility relies on one account that says there never were salmon in the upper Skagit watershed. Removing the dam would restore fish access to additional spawning and rearing habitat upstream and downstream of the dam. Removing the Gorge dam also would improve the transport of sediment and wood, which are key to creating habitat used by chinook and other anadromous salmon. Improved water quality and nutrient cycling would restore stream ecosystem function. This would greatly benefit the reach that is now dewatered between the dam and the powerhouse. The Gorge reservoir provides no flood storage. Removing the dam would have minimal impact on the ability to regulate downstream flood risk and SCL could continue to make money by generating power from their remaining two upstream dams. Construction of the Gorge dam and its supporting infrastructure began over 100 years ago, causing irreversible damage to an Upper Skagit village, disturbing the resting places of my ancestors and damaging or destroying important cultural sites. The dam continues to diminish salmon runs by cutting off salmon passage, excluding miles of former habitat and impacting the entire Skagit watershed. When chinook salmon are threatened, so are the southern resident orcas that feed on them. This destruction made millions of dollars for the utility while providing the power that built the city of Seattle. It’s time to stop placing profits before people. We want to see the Gorge dam removed. The Gorge dam was built during a period when environmental protection was not a priority. A project like this could never get built today and should not be allowed to continue to cause harm for another 100 years.    Hydropower, so-called “green energy,” comes at a cost. We don’t even know the full extent of the harm that has occurred here. We do know that this dam is harmful to both aquatic and terrestrial species and tribal treaty rights, and culture is impacted. The Skagit has been altered for too long for profit. I have asked Seattle’s mayor for understanding and help and have been ignored. Please help me now and anyone that truly cares for a better future for the Skagit by helping us collect 50,000+ signatures to encourage the City of Seattle & SCL to develop and implement a Gorge dam removal plan to help the Skagit River.

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