The Washington state budget approved this week includes $750,000 to study the impacts of the possible breaching of four Snake River dams to help salmon recovery.
The legislation calls for a neutral third party to develop a process for local, state, tribal, federal, and other stakeholders to weigh in on issues that would surround a decision to breach the four federal dams.
Chinook salmon are prime food for the endangered orcas that frequent Puget Sound, and a statewide dialogue had been proposed last year by a task force that Governor Jay Inslee established.
The two Republican members of Congress from eastern Washington, where the dams are located, oppose the state-financed effort as wasteful, saying the decision to remove the dams is up to the federal government. (AP)
