I have put my heart and soul into working for a win-win conclusion to the Savage Rapids Dam debate on the Rogue River and I humbly ask your support. If you believe we can deliver much needed water and still do our best to restore Rogue salmon and steelhead runs, please contact your elected leaders as soon as possible.

Ron Wyden 516 Hart Washington DC 20510 (202)224-5244 228-2717 Gordon Smith 404 Russell Washington DC 20510 (202)224-3753 228-3997 David Wu 1 510 Cannon Washington DC 20515 (202)225-0855 225-9497 Greg Walden 2 1404 Longworth Washington DC 20515 (202)225-6730 225-5774 Earl Blumenauer 3 1406 Longworth Washington DC 20515 (202)225-4811 225-8941 Peter DeFazio 4 2134 Rayburn Washington DC 20515 (202)225-6416 225-0032 Darlene Hooley 5 1130 Longworth Washington DC 20515 (202)225-5711 225-5699

Medford Mail Tribune Editorial Jan. 18, 2002

Priming the pumps$3 million for Savage Rapids removal is a start. Now federal funds are needed...

If the region’s congressmen have been waiting for a sign that the time is right to move quickly on securing federal aid for Savage Rapids Dam, they’ve got one.What else can you call the news last week that cash-poor Oregon has promised $3 million in lottery money to kick-start the $20 million dam removal project?It’s not a lot, but the state’s $3 million, combined with the $500,000 already budgeted by a federal agency and $100,000 from another Oregon source, brings the total pledged to — drum roll, please — 18 percent of the estimated project cost.That’s an accomplishment if ever there was one.Dam advocates and opponents fought for years over what to do with the 1921 Rogue River irrigation dam at the Jackson-Josephine county line. They finally made a deal last year to pull it out to improve fish passage.The plan calls for installing pumps in the river by 2005. They would allow the Grants Pass Irrigation District, which owns the dam, to supply customers by pumping water directly from the river. The dam would come down by the following year.Good as it sounds, it all depends on money.Oregon’s $3 million contribution, secured through the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, is money specifically destined for watershed enhancement projects such as this one. Government studies have shown more fish will inhabit the river if the dam is out of their way.Now it is clearly the federal government’s turn to pitch in.Southern Oregon needs the advocacy of both senators and its congressman — Gordon Smith, Ron Wyden and Greg Walden — and the backing of the rest of Oregon’s delegation to win money to push the project to completion.Without substantial federal help, the project will never be more than it is today, a promise on a piece of paper. With that help, Oregon could finally be free of a debate that’s taken too long and cost too much and a dam that stops too many fish.