Change.org - Only 73 Orcas left

Southern Resident Orcas are going extinct. The salmon that they rely on for food are too. Both of these problems can be traced back to one major source—the dams on the Snake River. Betsey and other activists from the Northwest have been sounding the alarm for years, but nothing has been done so far. Now, it is almost too late. Sign Betsey’s petition to breach the dams and save the river—and all the animals who depend on it. Dammed to extinction, Southern Resident Orcas are starving. Time is running out! 793,744 have signed Southern Resident Killer Whale Chinook Salmon Initiative’s petition. Let’s get to 1,000,000!

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The 73 remaining wild critically endangered salmon-eating Southern Resident Orcas are dying from starvation. ⇒ Leaving an effective breeding population less than 30, near the point of no recovery. Breach the Lower Snake River Dams this year Why are these Orcas starving? More than 50% of their diet comes from salmon produced in the Columbia Basin, half of which were produced in the Snake River System.   How is dam breaching possible? Since 2002, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has designated dam breaching as the best solution to recover wild salmon on the Snake River.  The Corps  of Engineers can implement breaching the dams now by using the existing 2002 EIS’s ’Breach Alternative Four.’ The Impact and benefits of breaching: • If the lower Snake River dams were breached, it would double or triple survival rates, restoring many millions of fish to the Columbia Basin. • Give the orcas a fighting chance to recover by increasing their food supply. • Breaching costs the state nothing. The first two dams can be breached for the cost of another EIS estimated at $80 million; 5 years to completion. • The four lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington do not provide flood control and produce only low value surplus electricity. • Savings from these dams can be applied to more efficient dams and/or projects. • NOTHING else, not more spill across the dams, not more hatchery fish, not less boat traffic, not more studies and a new EIS can achieve this in time to save wild salmon or Southern Resident Orcas. Congressional Legislation or new appropriations are not needed to start breaching the Snake River dams this year! SENATOR PATTY MURRAY AND GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE, Please take action today and urge the Army Corps’ General Helmlinger and Bonneville Power Administration’s Elliot Mainzer to begin breaching dams this year. Thank you to the hundreds of thousands who have petitioned for immediate dam breaching, for those of you who want more information on how to save the salmon and orcas, visit DamTRUTH

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