In a terse announcement, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a 9^th Circuit Court ruling that requires Washington state to repair steam culverts that block access to fish habitat. I won’t address the legal issues. Former Attorney General Rob McKenna, representing the Association of Washington Cities, however, painted a bleak picture of the implications in his brief on the case, noting this decision “will likely be the counties, cities, and even private citizens of Washington who will have to fund the removal and replacement of thousands of culverts, regardless of the cost-benefit ratio for salmon run enhancement. That is the natural import of a decision that could be interpreted to confer upon the Tribes a seemingly limitless veto power over any and all activities that impact the salmon supply…”

Regarding the issue of stream culverts themselves, however, there are three notes worth mentioning.

Environmental Policy Should Be Made in Washington state

In his statement on the decision, Attorney General Bob Ferguson lamented that “Washington state taxpayers will be shouldering all the responsibility for the federal government’s faulty culvert design.” There is a newfound appreciation for the high cost of federal regulation and bureaucracy in the last year or so. Increasingly, there is bipartisan support for giving local jurisdictions more control over environmental protection. We hope this isn’t just a passing fad.

Private Landowners Have Done What Politicians Did Not

The culverts that need to be repaired are primarily the responsibility of state agencies. Private forest landowners, by way of contrast, have fixed virtually all of their culverts. Timber harvests provided a stream of revenue that could be used to make improvements. Politicians, on the other hand, had other priorities and didn’t make the necessary investments to fix culverts.

Fixing Culverts is Worthwhile

I don’t believe judges should set priorities for salmon recovery, but among the many things we spend money on to help salmon and steelhead, fixing culverts is worthwhile. In the current Puget Sound Action Agenda, culverts feature prominently among prioritized projects. This doesn’t mean the cost isn’t significant. It does, however, mean that when looking for places to effectively help recovery efforts, culverts are often a good choice.

One key lesson from this ruling should be that relying on politicians and judges to effectively guide salmon recovery is fraught and unpredictable. Working with local leaders and resource businesses is the best approach for taxpayers and the environment.