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Abstract
The decimation of salmon populations on the Snake River, greatly worsened by the construction of the four Lower Snake River (LSR) dams in the 1970s, has launched a decades-long debate about whether the dams should be removed. A diverse coalition of stakeholders and sovereigns is pushing to restore the river to its natural flow. Scholarly literature on LSR dam removal has primarily focused on cost-benefit analyses of dam removal and the unlikely political alliances in the fight for breaching the dams. While these paradigms remain important in understanding the complexity of this issue, research has generally failed to document why those fighting for dam removal are doing so. Through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, I characterize how environmentalists, recreational guides, and citizens of sovereign Tribal Nations are motivated to advocate for dam removal and illustrate these individuals’ connections to this issue. I argue that stakeholders are motivated by salmon’s cultural, natural, and economic importance to their homes and, in the case of the Tribes to their cultural livelihoods. The varying motivations for involvement in the campaign for dam removal fall into two groups: issues with the ongoing operation of the dams and the perceived benefits of dam removal. There was a consensus among interviewees regarding which groups were aligned with or opposed to the dam removal effort. Sovereign Tribal Nations are unanimously recognized as the leaders of the coalition in favor of removal. Interviewees place an emphasis on the importance of a solution to this problem that is beneficial for all parties involved; doing better for the region as a whole while simultaneously restoring fish populations. Finally, I establish that due to the federal ownership of the dams, there is a shared understanding that a meaningful decision on the future of the dams can only come from Congress.