Four decades of conservation spending totaling more than $9 billion in inflation-adjusted taxpayer dollars have failed to improve wild salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River Basin, according to research from Oregon State University.
The study, led by OSU applied economics professor William Jaeger, is based on an analysis of 50 years of data and suggests that while the number of hatchery-reared salmon has increased, there is no evidence of a net increase in wild, naturally spawning salmon and steelhead.
Findings were published today in PLOS One. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/