Looking downstream toward Steelhead Falls on the White Salmon River. Photo by Emily DeCarlo
By Dac Collins. Nov. 28, 2019. It’s been a little over 8 years since PacifiCorp began the process of taking out Condit Dam on the White Salmon, thereby allowing the river to fun freely from its headwaters on Mt. Adams to its confluence with the Columbia. And in the time since the lower river re-opened to recreational use in 2012, thousands of boaters have floated down — and an uncountable number of salmon and steelhead have swam up — the narrow canyon stretch that lies below the old dam site.
I’ve witnessed both. And whether it’s a group of kayakers portaging around Steelhead Falls, or a summer steelhead holding in a deep pool above the falls, their presence conjures up similar emotional reactions. Optimism. Excitement. Hope for a future filled with less dams and more free-flowing rivers.
Beneath these positive feelings, however, lie the undercurrents of uncertainty. The awareness that the banks and upland portions of this stretch of river are still owned by PacifiCorp, the same publicly-traded utility that built the 125-foot dam in the first place. The knowledge that profit is what propels our society, and has traditionally been the standard metric by which we calculate how to manage our lands and waterways — our old-growth forests and sublime river canyons that have been cut, inundated or otherwise pushed to the wayside to make room for a pile of money.
Make no doubt about it…the lower 3 miles of the White Salmon — from the old dam site to its confluence with the Columbia — are in limbo. So when the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) formally acknowledged in August that PacifiCorp had completed all of its requirements for decommissioning the dam and restoring the lower river, these feelings of uncertainty and unease reverberated throughout the local river community. Questions began to arise. Does that mean PacifiCorp will sell its holdings now? And if so, who’s going to buy the land? The Forest Service? Developers? Timber companies? The Western Rivers Conservancy?
These are all possible scenarios, and some could prove more detrimental to the river than others. But now there appears to be another option on the table.
On Monday, Nov. 18, PacifiCorp announced that it had reached an agreement with the Yakama Nation giving them a Right of First Offer on the 289 acres of land between the old dam site and the mouth. (PacifiCorp also still owns a significant amount of acreage from the dam site upstream to Northwestern Park, and this acreage is not included within the agreement.)
Tribal Council Vice-Chairman Virgil Lewis Sr. said, “We are pleased to jointly announce this Right of First Offer of PacifiCorp’s lands along the Lower White Salmon River: a unique opportunity to preserve in perpetuity critical river and upland habitats that sustain our way of life.”
“We will continue to work with our partners throughout the Yakama Nation’s traditional territories in order to honor, protect and restore our culture and the natural resources on which it depends, and to uphold our promise to the Creator to speak for those resources that cannot speak for themselves.”
The press release makes it clear, though, that the Right of First Offer doesn’t mean the 289 acres are on the market quite yet.
“The agreement with the Nation is not a sale agreement, but demonstrates our intention and the values we share with the Yakama and the people who use and love this river,” said Todd Olson, PacifiCorp’s Director of hydro compliance.
So while the fate of the lower river is far from sealed, this recent announcement could bode well for the White Salmon. We’ve all witnessed what the White Man has done with the lower river in the time since the Yakama Nation and the United States entered into the Treaty of 1855.
Now it might be time to see what the Indian will do with it.
I love the reference to speaking for “those resources that cannot speak for themselves.” That is what you’re doing here.