Contact:

Sam Mace, Save Our Wild Salmon, sam@wildsalmon.org, 509-747-2030, 509-863-5696 (cell)

Paul Fish, Mountain Gear, 509-242-4545

Chris Kopczynski, Kop Construction, 509-624-1231, 509-995-0309 (cell)

Open letter asks Senators to bring together stakeholders to craft a long-term solution for salmonand the region’s economy

Spokane, Wash. – More than 50 business owners and community leaders in eastern

Washington and bordering Idaho towns wrote to U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell

on Tuesday urging their leadership in solving the Columbia salmon crisis. The open letter

appears as a full-page ad in today’s Spokane-based Pacific Northwest Inlander.

The business owners and community leaders want the senators to bring together all interests —

farmers, fishermen, energy users, business owners and local leaders—to craft a long term science

-based and economically viable salmon restoration plan. They acknowledge the historic political

tensions surrounding the salmon issue, but note the enormous economic opportunity for the

region in forging a long-term solution.

“Healthy rivers, fisheries and outdoor recreation opportunities are key to Mountain Gear’s

bottom line,” said Mountain Gear CEO Paul Fish. “And not just in terms of creating a market

for the outdoor products we sell. Spokane’s proximity to hiking, fishing, and outdoor recreation

opportunities gives our city a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting talented people to

work for our company, and is an incentive for our kids to want to return home after college. At

the very least we need to have an informed discussion on how restoring our rivers and fisheries

can economically benefit the region.”

“I look forward to working with our senators to begin an open and informed discussion on what

a real salmon restoration plan could bring to the Inland Northwest,” said Chris Kopczynski,

owner of Kop Construction, a Spokane-based construction company. “It’s not just about the

economic benefits of recovering the Snake River basin’s wild salmon or the moral imperative we

have to save this one-of-a-kind species. The discussion needs to look at the transportation and

energy infrastructure that will make the Inland Northwest economically competitive in the

coming decades. Will that be barge traffic on the lower Snake or a modern rail system? A

bigger reliance on clean energy sources? We have an opportunity to build a plan that solves more

than just the salmon problem.”

“There are serious consequences for our region if we continue to drag our feet in resolving the

salmon crisis,” said Dustin Aherin, a third-generation Lewiston-Clarkston resident and chair of

Citizens for Progress. “Uncertainty is hurting Clarkston and Lewiston. We can’t develop our

urban waterfront, make sound transportation decisions or plan for the future until we know the

long-term future of the lower Snake River dams. I look forward to working with Sens. Murray

and Cantwell to craft a solution that works for salmon and works for my home town.”

The past decade has witnessed a sometimes bitter political struggle, often cast as purely a

conflict between salmon advocates and river users. The letter signers — a cross section of the

region’s business and community leaders — seek a more cooperative approach to assuring

salmon recovery and addressing the issue of the lower Snake River dams.

Thirteen salmon and steelhead stocks remain listed under the Endangered Species Act despite 20

years of litigation and billions of dollars spent on failed restoration efforts. “Our coalition of

fishing businesses and conservation groups recognize that for salmon restoration to move

forward it must work for our farmers, shippers, energy users and riverside towns,” said Sam

Mace, Inland Northwest Director for Save Our Wild Salmon. “We are committed to working

with fellow stakeholders and our elected leaders to craft a solution that restores our salmon and

benefits the Inland Northwest.”

For more information and to view the letter, go to: http://www.workingsnakeriver.com/letter.

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