I agree that society has unconsciously written off the SRKWs.

But, on the Snake. The primary hatcheries there are mitigation. No dams, no mitigation. Not that you can't produce the hatchery fish but whosomever pays now shouldn't have to pay in the future. So, reducing the number of juveniles out migrating coupled with the mainstream dams still there and the Northerns, Smallies, and Walleye will not only be happy to eat them but will eat more wilds because there are fewer hatchery smolts.

Then, how long will it take for the habitat to recover to actually produce wild Chinook? One or two decades? At best? Can the SRKWs wait that long?

It's being oversold.