Enter any comments on the WHEREAS section of the resolution here.
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1) WHEREAS: UU Principles call for us to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity; justice, equity and compassion in human relations; a goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; and respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. UUA history has also called us to action on behalf of both the Indigenous communities and the environment
2) WHEREAS: The recent Ninth Circuit decision in United States v. Washington, No. 13-35474 (9th Cir. 2016), held that both Washington State and the United States governments are liable to signatory tribes for blocking or impeding salmon migration in violation of the 1855 Stevens Treaties.
3) WHEREAS: The decline of salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest is a well-documented and complex problem. Scientists have long recognized the influence of, among other factors, habit loss, challenges posed by dams and reservoirs, timber harvests, farming, industrial facilities, and urbanization. Despite hard work, ingenuity, great expense, and commitment across all levels of Federal, state, Tribal and local governments and a wide range of stakeholders, many fish populations in the Columbia River Basin—salmon, steelhead, and others— have not recovered. Some continue to decline and NOAA Fisheries concludes that SRKW [Southern Resident Killer Whales (orcas)] continue to face a high risk of extinction and should remain on the endangered species list.
4) WHEREAS: Recognizing that the dams, particularly the lower Snake River dams, have had a significant adverse impact on the anadromous fish runs and their Treaty rights, Nimiipuu (Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho) passed a resolution to support breaching the dams, The Nez Perce Tribe resolution states it has relied upon the salmon resources of the Columbia River system since time immemorial and that the salmon have a vital and primary role in the cultural, religious, economic, and physical well-being of the Nez Perce people. They cited their exclusive right to take fish at all usual and accustomed places under the Treaty of June 11, 1855.
