Dams
Running the rivers
In late June, Columbia-Snake River System stakeholders hosted a tour of the Pacific Northwest’s premier waterway for members of the Upper Mississippi Waterway Association (UMWA). The tour began in Astoria, Ore., and concluded in Lewiston, Idaho, and comes a year after a similar trip down the Mississippi River by many…
Keeping the river highway open
Washington’s thriving wheat industry relies heavily on a critical, often unseen, transportation artery: the Columbia-Snake River System. This “river highway” is the backbone of the state’s agricultural export system, efficiently moving millions of bushels of wheat from inland grain elevators to ocean ports at Vancouver, Portland, and beyond. The efficiency…
All river matters
A big part of the annual Tri-State Grain Growers Convention is educational breakout sessions that aim to educate and inform growers. At this year’s event, one super-sized session focused on Marine Highway 84, or M-84, and included a panel of stakeholders representing the entire Columbia-Snake River System, from Astoria, Ore.,…
Treaty agreement reached
After six years and 15 rounds of negotiation, the U.S. and Canada announced in July that they had reached an agreement in principle on modernizing the Columbia River Treaty. In August, the U.S. Department of State provided details on key elements of the modernized treaty during a public information session….
Seeing the system
In August, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG), in partnership with the Washington State Potato Commission, The McGregor Company, and Northwest RiverPartners, brought more than a dozen U.S. congressional staffers from Washington, D.C., to Lewiston, Idaho, to tour Lower Granite Dam and learn why the Columbia-Snake River System is…
Legal eagles
If you’ve followed the controversy over the Columbia-Snake River System, you might have wondered who was representing the people and businesses that are dependent on the waterways for their livelihoods. That would be the Inland Ports and Navigation Group (IPNG). IPNG is a subgroup of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association…
Highway to the future
One of the most important highways in the Pacific Northwest isn’t paved, but that doesn’t stop billions of dollars of goods and services from flowing up and down its length. Marine Highway 84, or M-84, is comprised of portions of the Columbia, Snake, and Willamette rivers and stretches from Lewiston,…
The misdiagnosis that’s harming fish recovery
Wheat growers and other farm producers throughout our state are well aware of the great harm that would be done to farming, power generation, and greenhouse gas emissions if the lower Snake River dams are removed. But what they may not realize is if that disaster should happen, it will…
In the news
Since the Biden Administration officially announced an agreement with plaintiffs to litigation regarding the lower Snake River dams in December, wheat industry leaders haven’t stopped advocating for the dams in local and national news. “There is so much misinformation out there regarding the dams and how critical they are to…
Stakeholders dispute dam agreement
The fight over the lower Snake River dams reached a milestone in mid-December when the Biden Administration officially announced an agreement with plaintiffs to the litigation regarding the lower Snake River dams that prioritizes fish recovery and was written with little to no input from agricultural stakeholders. “The plan announced…
