Wild Steelhead? On the Snake? Are you guys sure that they aren't just hatchery strays that are spawning wild, and have been for a while? If any of these fish ever had an ancestor that swam in a cement pond, and was conditioned to rise to the sound of the food truck's motor, then why are we so worried about them. As long as they are genetically similar to the fish from the old wild stocks, then the hatchery could just make more "wild fish". I think we need to realize that the wild fish from the Snake are gone, or watered down from mixing with hatchery fish, and spending billions to save these glorified rubber trout would be a poor choice, when there are much cheaper ways to bolster the returns on hatchery fish.

I believe the questions about why the Grande Ronde fish don't seem to have as much trouble as the Clearwater fish making it back to their release point, can be answered by comparing the size of the fish, to the size of the mesh in the nets used in the lower Columbia. A few years ago, the tribal fisheries as well as the sport fisheries were regulated during the migration of spring chinook. Steelhead anglers at Ringold (Upper Columbia), started noticing some early returning, larger than average steelhead making it back. These were fish that had normally been caught in tribal nets, but due to the restrictions, they were able to return to the hatchery.

I agree, as do most anglers that removing the dams could be nothing but beneficial to the fish, but we should try and eliminate the variables that impact the fewest people first.