Dear Friend,

At a time when our daily lives are upended, we should remember that the way our communities will move forward is together. The fight for a healthy environment continues. Even in the face of this crisis, the administration is moving forward with a short public comment period related to the survival of endangered orcas and salmon.

The southern resident orca population in the Pacific Northwest has fallen to only 73 whales — the lowest number in decades. But people across the region are calling for change that brings communities together to find a solution to recover these remarkable whales.

One of the biggest threats to their survival is that numbers of chinook salmon, their main food source, have declined to levels nearing extinction. To put it bluntly, our orcas are starving.

Scientists say one of the best things we can do to increase salmon abundance for orcas is to remove four outdated and costly dams on the lower Snake River. These dams limit salmon migration and reduce the number of chinook salmon available to orcas during critical winter months when they leave Puget Sound in search of food.

The agencies that oversee the dams just released a draft plan that fails in its mandate to help recover endangered salmon and steelhead. They need to hear from you before the April 13 comment deadline that this is not acceptable if we want to pull orcas and salmon back from the brink of extinction.

The lower Snake once acted like a superhighway for migrating salmon, connecting some 5,500 miles of pristine spawning streams with the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean.

The current draft plan is not the solution the orcas or the salmon need. We need you to raise your voice to let the agencies know that preserving the status quo of their operations are not enough.

So much progress has been made in the past few years toward public support for a real, comprehensive solution, and that is largely because people like you spoke out on this issue. Please join us again in supporting a plan that restores abundant populations of salmon, protects and invests in the economic vitality of local communities, continues the region’s legacy of providing reliable and affordable clean energy, and helps the iconic orcas recover and remain a vital part of our region and heritage.

We can do this if we come together for a solution that works for all,