We are eyewitness to an epic ecological crime against humanity: the calculated and craven devastation of one of the world's unique, perpetually renewable natural resources—wild salmon produced in the vast pristine headwaters of the Snake River, largest tributary to the Columbia River.

This crime is being perpetrated by employees of Bonneville Power Administration, NOAA Fisheries and Army Corps of Engineers allied with Northwest pork barrel economic interests, collectively the Columbia River Pork Alliance. Steve Wright, head of Bonneville Power Administration is the current ringleader.

For decades Bonneville and the Pork Alliance conspired to steal the Snake River Commons. In defiance of multiple laws to the contrary—from 1855 treaties with Native American Indian tribes forward through the sweeping salmon restoration mandate of the 1980 Northwest Power Act—they ruthlessly drove Snake River salmon to the brink of extinction and drove the Northwest and Nation into the ditch causing ongoing ecological, economic and social damage of epic proportions.

Now Bonneville and its Pork Alliance strive to subvert the law of last resort, the Endangered Species Act.

The Last Salmon Ceremony bears witness to this corruption of government and epic betrayal of the public trust. A series of virtual occasional papers will be launched into cyberspace as perpetually retrievable messages in bottles so future generations can hold personally accountable the Snake River salmon killers who lost their moral bearings and egregiously betrayed the public trust.

Context counts. Click here for a summary of this complex issue, and here for a more detailed overview.

Cast of Lead Perpetrators

Steve Wright Administrator, Bonneville Power Administration, 2000-	Greg Delwiche VP for Environment, Fish, Wildlife, 2004-2010	Lorri Bodi Senior Policy Advisor 1998-2010; VP for Environment, Fish, Wildlife, 2010-
Jane Lubchenco Administrator, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 2009-	Bob Lohn Northwest Regional Administrator, NOAA Fisheries, 2001-2008	Will Stelle Northwest Regional Administrator, NOAA Fisheries,1994-2000, 2010-

Ahead Who duped President Obama into adopting the scientifically, legally and morally corrupt Biological Opinion of the G.W. Bush Administration? How did they do it? How to inform the President and show the horrendous ecological, economic and social consequences? How to persuade him to purge the corrupt scofflaws at the top of Bonneville Power Administration, NOAA Fisheries and Army Corps of Engineers and replace them with public servants who respect the law and have a can-do attitude about getting the region and nation out of the ditch? Glossary eye of newt, noun, The first ingredient in the witches’ brew used to cast an evil spell in The Tragedy of Macbeth (1603-1607) by William Shakespeare. new•speak ('nü-"spEk, 'nyü-), noun, Usage: often capitalized. : propagandistic language marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings. Etymology: Newspeak, a language "designed to diminish the range of thought," in the novel 1984 (1949) by George Orwell. Merriam-Webster Dictionary black•white ". . . this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary." George Orwell, in 1984.

NRIC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 1976 specifically to address the then-threatened wild salmon and steelhead of the Snake River Basin. Details @ www.nwric.org

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