Letters for Aug. 5, 2023

Work together to address plight of salmon

As Dan McDonald rightly points out: The management of the lower Snake River has disproportionately benefited certain businesses and communities at the expense of others and great risk to wildlife – for a mere 4% of the region’s energy needs (“Economic development for rural communities and recovery for imperiled salmon,” July 19). We must, and we can, meet the challenge of a rapidly changing climate, while meeting the growing demand for clean energy, encouraging responsible recreation, and economic growth along these historically significant waterways.

Federal agency experts and state and tribal scientists have concluded repeatedly that the time is now. Salmon are swimming toward extinction and only a free-flowing lower Snake River can bring them back. Rather than continue to spend billions on failed salmon recovery efforts, our elected leaders can shape the future of the Northwest and ensure that it is ready to take on the challenges of the 21st century. The benefits this replacement process offers cannot be understated, from strengthening local economies and making good on our nation’s treaty responsibilities to Northwest Tribes to safeguarding an ecosystem that depends on a free-flowing lower Snake River.

The region is in dire need of forward-looking, comprehensive solutions, which are consistently stifled by misinformation and scare tactics that would keep us from changing the status quo. We need to come together to meet the plight of Northwest salmon head on, and work as a community to address the issues with equity and understanding.

Kody Osborne

Director of Conservation Partnerships; Northern Rockies, Prairies and Pacific Region; National Wildlife Federation

Bend, Oregon

Trump doesn’t have a conscience

Dave Barker (“Vote with your conscience,” July 30) forgets that former President Trump inherited a good economy from former President Obama but saw a decline when COVID-19 hit because he denied that COVID was a problem.

Also, why should we forgive his assault on the Capitol and the insurrection that involved, as well as racist assaults on Black demonstrations, not to mention his outrageous unproven claims about a stolen election and his attempts to illegally manufacture votes for himself?

Further, he has praised dictators and took classified intelligence material home, as well as sharing it with unauthorized people.

He is also on record making a comment about moving on married women.

Philip J. Mulligan

Spokane

Climate change perspective needed

I read with interest your articles in the recent July 30 edition entitled “First Nations Pay Dearly as Wildfires Scorch Canada” from the N.Y. Times and “U.N. warns ‘an era of global boiling’ has started” from Washington Post. Both articles say the wildfires and “global boiling” are due to man-made climate change, but neither article indicated any opposing facts, which can be easily researched on Google, i.e., that half of recent Canadian fires were caused by arson or accidental camping fires/discarded cigarettes, with the remaining fires attributed to lightning. The Washington Post “warning” article overlooks that the hottest day in U.S. history was in 1913, (110 years ago) when the temperature reached 134 degrees in California, and in 1936 reached 121 degrees in Steele, North Dakota. In 1937, (86 years ago) Yuma, Arizona, had a record 101 days of temperature over 100 degrees. The worst heat wave in American history was along the East Coast in 1896 (137 years ago)!

Yes, climate changes and it has changed since recorded time. However, recorded changes should place current “changes” in perspective. As an aside, the coldest temp in the U.S. since 1996 occurred in 2019 (four years ago) when the temp reached minus 56 degrees in Duluth, Minnesota. However, an earlier record was sent in 1951 (72 years ago) when the temperature hit minus 60 degrees in Colorado.

Mark Desmarais

Spokane