The folks behind the now award-winning documentary, DamNation, are asking more people to sign a petition calling on President Obama to begin removing obsolete dams throughout the US. The petition's initial target is four dams on the lower Snake River in Washington state.
According to the petition, "Snake River salmon and steelhead once thrived, with up to 30 million wild fish entering the mouth of the Columbia River every year. Now, every Snake River salmon stock is on the endangered species list or extinct."
The four dams, which include the Ice Harbor Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, Little Goose Dam and Lower Granite Dam, are widely recognized to be outdated and doers of far more harm than good. According to DamNation's creators, these "federally operated dams cost taxpayers millions every year, degrade water quality and impede salmon migration to and from the healthiest habitat remaining in the lower 48 states, while providing no flood control and little irrigation."