Ice Harbor Dam( Rocky Barker)

“Nothing has ever worked.” That quote comes from writer Rocky Barker, who says all the attempts to reverse the decline of Snake River salmon in Idaho, Oregon and Washington have failed.

That includes everything from fish ladders to putting salmon in trucks and driving them past the dams that keep them from reaching their spawning grounds.

Now though, Barker says there are hopeful signs that the fish might begin to recover. For 35 years he’s reported on salmon, and even though he’s retired from the Idaho Statesman, he’s still writing about the fish. Rocky Barker joined Idaho Matters to talk about his newest article Will Salmon Finally Win This Year?, which is out now.