Washington state argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that replacing hundreds of stream culverts blocking salmon migration is onerous and too expensive.
In 2001, some 21 northwest Washington tribes, joined by the United States government, asked a federal judge to rule that the state had a treaty-based duty to protect salmon habitat. In 2013, that court ordered the state rebuild clogged culverts that had the greatest impact on salmon flow by 2030. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision in 2016, and now the issue is before the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department wants a declaration that the state had an 1850’s treaty-based obligation to refrain from degrading the fishery resources. But Washington State Solicitor General Noah Purcell argued that the lower court rulings ignore the fact that the salmon harvests affected by the culverts have declined less than 5 percent.
The state estimates the cost of replacing culverts at $2.4 billion.
The district court told Washington state to defer culverts that had less than 200 meters upstream of useful salmon habitat. (Spokesman-Review, Medill News Service )
