MC: I'm glad to hear you too are a conservationist. But wonder how you could possibly equate PETA with an environmental group. That is a bit like calling the Nazis a conservative organization.

Somehow the polluters have made the word environmentalist into something dirty and shameful when in fact mainstream environmental groups like Trout Unlimited and The nature Conservancy are simply trying to protect our environment in responsible ways.

Back to the Snake River dams. We have in fact tried every other reasonable alternative. The current plan has been ruled inadequate and illegal by the courts. The Salmon River wild runs are still in decline. There were three sockeye that made it back this year. I would say we are about out of options to save the Salmon River runs.

If we remove the dams we can use largely existing railroad track for transporting the wheat that is now barged. Yes they too puke diesel, but I do not believe nearly as much on a per ton hauled basis.

Lastly the age old argument of - if this then than - simply doesn't hold water. Just because we succeed in eliminating one evil - the Snake River dams - doesn’t mean we will immediately try to remove the mainstem Columbia River dams. We have a long history of passing needed legislation without proceeding on to the next illogical step. No doubt there are some goofballs who would want to remove the Columbia River dams, but they would never get support for that.