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The Columbia River and The Snake River
I live about an hour away from the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area and about an hour and a half from the Oregon coast. Although the political map of Oregon is skewed the scenic map offers some relief from the political world.
I have traveled across the western states to include Vancouver Island in Canada. Across the States of Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
In the days before satellite radio on a road trip through northern Arizona and southern Utah the digital seek search for a radio station just cycled up and down the scale between Page, AZ, and Moab, Utah. I could see thousands upon thousands of stars through the windshield on that night drive.
There are what is called Sky Islands in Arizona and unfortunately the west has what I call Woke Islands as well. I suspect that the cultural elites hate gasoline powered vehicles because they fear you will discover an America that they don’t want you to see for yourself. You might meet the wrong people in small towns across the United States.
The two videos in this post will show you the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Published in Environment
I had never thought of it that way. Worth keeping in mind!
I was stationed at a radar site on the side of the Snake River on the Idaho/Oregon border back in the late 70’s. Aircraft would do simulated bomb runs down the Owyhee River in Oregon to the Owyhee dam, and we provided simulated bomb scoring and anti aircraft radar. All overcome by technology now, but there were sites all over the US back then. Absolutely gorgeous country there. We once camped out in Hells Canyon, another little known scenic area. Three dams in a relatively short piece of the Snake River. Pictures are Hells Canyon and the Owyhee dam.
The environmentalists want to tear out those dams (plus one additional) for the benefit of the salmon, and to the great detriment to electricity availability.
Some interesting facts about the Snake River:
Hells Canyon area of the Snake River:
I have lived in the Portland area for 50+ years. I have been to every single place depicted in the first video, most of them many times. If there is a trail there, I’ve hiked it. The Columbia Gorge is a beautiful place.
Not only do the dams generate electricity they provide water for irrigation. There is some idiocy in the salmon protection policies. Hatchery salmon have a fin notched. According to some experts these salmon are not as desirable or inferior to wild salmon.
There are hatchery fish that make the trip back to the hatchery and some will make it past the hatchery. Those that make it past the hatchery are electrocuted. I don’t see that as a policy that increases the salmon population. Inferior in what way? That and endless lawsuits from different advocacy groups concerning the Snake and Columbia rivers that taxpayers end up funding screws up the parade.
A candidate for “Understatement of the Year.” : )
Is it really a great detriment to electricity availability? I ask because the Hoover Dam, which was built to provide a lot of electricity to the southwest now serves only some backup needs, IIRC. I don’t think that’s because of low water levels in recent years, but I’m not positive about that.
They provide 1000 MW of electricity, the amount of a nuclear or large fossil fuel plant, of which Oregon has none. It would have to be replaced by buying electricity from other states.
Huh? Isn’t 3MW off by a couple or three orders of magnitude?
See this article about dam removal executed – that’s a fitting term – on the Klamath River in CA and apparently planned for the Columbia Basin. (No longer living in CA I’d not paid any attention to this, like most maybe. Newsome got it done.) 1920’s engineering was a marvel and beautiful and respectful
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/klamath-dam-removal-its-an-environmental-disaster/
Horrifying! A premium example of unintended consequences, and the perpetrators slinking away after the disaster they caused unfolded.
I’m not always sure these things are unintended.
Yes. Thank you for pointing that out. That’s what I get for googling something, then waiting to comment long enough to forget the number. Should be 1000 MW.
The Snake River valley from the Ontario (OR) / Boise area eastward is actually a gigantic burn scar, where the Yellowstone hot spot torched through the bedrock over millions of years, including burning holes through mountain ranges. The river is carved down into the lava beds, most dramatically in the Twin Falls area.
I need to take the drive up to the Owyhee Dam, been here ten years and haven’t done that yet. Another dramatic spot in the area is Succor Creek, with a bunch of weathered out volcanic rock plugs.
If the water is high enough to go out the glory hole that dam is incredible. Back in the day we could drive out and watch the B52’s doing low level runs down the river.
In the Pacific Northwest, 75% of our power comes from hydroelectric plants.
The other dam removal proposal that blows my mind is Hetch Hetchy in the Sierra Nevadas. It provides 80% of San Francisco’s drinking water. That hasn’t stopped San Fran
FundamentalistsEnvironmentalists from trying to remove it to help a fish in the river delta there.I think not for long.
They don’t care.
The ‘E’ in any cabinet level agency’s name may be assumed to stand for “Evil.”
Just the title reminded me of this:
I liked it so much, that a high-res print of it hung in my office for years. That, and my family effectively lived on the Salmon, Willamette and Columbia for years.
You can get it here: https://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/river-maps/columbia-river/