Cecil Andrus Led the Fight for Idaho’s Salmon and Steelhead
Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus (1931-2017) was a long-time advocate for protecting Idaho’s salmon and steelhead runs. An avid angler, Andrus would reminisce about taking his family on weekend picnic outings to Bruce’s Eddy on the North Fork Clearwater River, and get in a little fishing. Bruce’s Eddy now lies at the bottom of Dworshak Reservoir.
As early as 1966 in his first (but unsuccessful) campaign for Idaho Governor it was Andrus bringing up his concerns about the management of salmon. Take note of this newspaper clipping from April 30, 1966:
In his “first life” as governor, the terms from 1971-77 he toyed with the idea of acquiring a vessel that he could send down the Columbia River and cut through the nets of the commercial fishers that were taking too many Idaho-bound anadromous fish.
In 1990 (during his second life as Governor 1987-95), the first Endangered Species Act petitions were filed by indian tribes and conservation groups on the Snake River sockeye salmon, as well as the Snake River spring, summer and fall Chinook salmon. This was a big deal and very politically-charged at the time, because in the Pacific Northwest the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws had affected management of National Forests, severely restraining timber sales and in turn logging and saw milling jobs in rural forest communities.
To many idahoans the Endangered Species Act status for Snake River salmon could spell massive economic disruption. High concern spread among water users that federal agencies based in the downstream states of Oregon and Washington could find a way to demand water from Idaho irrigators and instead use the water to push the juvenile salmon to the ocean during the spring migration.
Rather than shy away from what looked like a no-win issue, Andrus plunged in. The four states, federal agencies, interest groups and trade associations in the region held a number of meetings, called the Salmon Summit. And it was Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus who brought forward a plan. A plan that focused on the real problem created by the construction of the four lower Snake River Dams that slowed the flowing waters into a series of stagnant reservoirs and preventing free migration of salmon and steelhead to the sea. And Andrus decided to make it a national issue.
He gave an exclusive interview to TROUT magazine in 1991 detailing his views on the issue. He advocated for a plan that would seasonally draw down the reservoirs behind the lower Snake River dams and modify the dams themselves to allow fish to swim past the structures.
In 1992 he informed a regional audience at a US Senate hearing that if the federal agencies continued the business as usual approach then he was prepared to take the matter to a Federal Judge. In 1993 the federal plan, a so-called Biological Opinion, was issued, it was business as usual, and true to his word Andrus challenged the plan in court. He was joined by the state of Oregon and several fishing and conservation groups. In 1994 he won the lawsuit. Federal agencies began to take notice. By the time Andrus left office at the beginning of 1995 the plans were being adjusted.
It would take many years for future plans to be drafted. And not too long later many fish scientists and advocates built on Governor Andrus’ plan and upped the ante: rather than modify the lower Snake River dams and empty the pools seasonally, why not remove or bypass the dams permanently? Idaho’s largest newspaper the Idaho Statesman, endorsed the proposal in 1997. Trout Unlimited adopted a position in support of bypassing the four dams to restore the Snake River runs. By the late 1990s the debate shifted to this plain, one where the foundation had clearly been laid by Governor Andrus’ plan.
The battle continues to today. Another half dozen or so lawsuits have challenged the federal plans, and in all but one case the Federal Court has said the plans are not good enough, that more needs to be done to protect salmon and steelhead. And at this writing the region is in yet another public process, the development of an Environmental Impact Statement, that will look at whether to remove one or more of the lower Snake River dams. Trout Unlimited is in the middle of it advocating for restoration of the Snake River salmon and steelhead runs. The passing of Governor Andrus is a reminder that it was his leadership that ushered in this protracted debate over the conservation of what were once the largest salmon and steelhead runs in the world. In his final years as Governor he changed the terms of debate. And while he has left the stage he will not be forgotten.
