Fair hooker - As I said earlier...
"Draw your own conclusions."
But please don't blame them on me.
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Salmo g.,

Of course high quality habitat is important to salmon production. Would anyone deny that? If not, then with who would one argue for the necessity of that environment?

You assert that, "the Republicans and conservative philosophy you identify with appears hell bent on severely degrading, if not outright destruction of, that environment that produces the fish and fishing we seem so mutually passionate about."

That Salmo is where we disagree. It's not that I identify with the Republicans and conservative philosophy but that I must defend them from such patently false and biased allegations. It seems that the environmentalist lolo's from the 60's continue to blame the so-called 'military-industrial complex' for the woes of the world but have graduated from sitting in spiked trees loaded on acid to organizing a network of radical activists. They seem compelled to repetitively point fingers in an attempt to discredit any rational approach to management of our resources.

Speaking specifically about the referenced article by Alex Uber demonizing President Bush requires mention that Mr. Uber, whether right or wrong, is fanatically committed to the removal of the lower Snake River dams. Many agree with Mr. Uber and many believe that the benefits of the dams outweigh the deficits and the costs associated with their removal.

I don't know where you personally stand on this issue Salmo and I really don't lean strongly either way myself. I do know that President Bush by publicly advocating that the dams be left standing is not proposing severe degradation nor the outright destruction of the environment that produces the Snake River fish.

Salmo, the environmental sky is not falling and the Europeans are not a cancer in an otherwise balanced world held together by the totems of the Indian keepers of the earth. Global Warming may be a myth, Corporate America does not have unlimited funds to be spent on the whims of the idealists and the tooth fairy was your mom and dad.

Most of the environmental damage from logging is done and we now have a long-term agreement with the industry so not too much more can be done to impose further restrictions. I don't think anyone will be building many major new dams soon and as you know many will be removed during this century. Our largest and most difficult environmental problem today might perhaps be accommodating more and more people. Development is spilling into farmland and forested areas at near lightspeed and zoning laws just can't keep pace or in many instances are flat out inadequate. I would suggest that anyone committed to environmental protection spend some time participating in the development of their local zoning ordinances.