| Dear Friend, |
| Do you have a couple minutes to talk about our latest legal battle to protect salmon? |
| Some of largest and most remarkable salmon in the Pacific Northwest make a 1,600-mile round trip journey from the cold mountain streams of their birth in central Idaho out to the Pacific Ocean and back. Going one direction, this trip used to take only a few days, but now, as the fish contest with eight dams and the stagnant reservoirs they create, it takes weeks — if they survive it at all. |
| To make matters worse, climate change and intense heat waves are exacerbating harsh conditions for salmon across the Pacific Northwest. Salmon suffer and begin to die when water temperatures rise above 68°F — something that is becoming more common and more severe due to extreme heat. |
| This is why my colleagues and I are in court – to give these salmon a fighting chance. We’re working on a proven and effective way to improve conditions and save the wild salmon: restoring the Lower Snake River. Will you help fund this and other critical legal fights? |
Here are three reasons why this fight matters:
- Snake River salmon and steelhead have been listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act since the mid-1990s.
- Salmon play a major role in the diet and cultural practices of many Native American Tribes across the Northwest, including the Nez Perce Tribe with its reservation above the last lower Snake River dam.
- Endangered orcas depend on Chinook salmon from the Snake/Columbia River as a critical food resource. Too few Chinook mean orcas are starving.
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| Our fight to restore the lower Snake River and protect these endangered salmon is bigger than just this one species and this one river. It ties directly to our larger effort to safeguard ecosystems so we can secure the biodiversity that is necessary to sustain all life, including human life. |
| Your gift today will play a critical role in achieving this goal and have a lasting impact on the future of this planet. |
| Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about our work to protect salmon. I am so grateful for your continued support. |
