Salmon River Confluence

Groups who began their trip on the Salmon River join the Snake River at the confluence. This site has an interesting and important conservation history. In the 1960s Washington Public Power had plans to build a dam directly downstream of the confluence at the Nez Perce Site. Pacific Northwest Power had a competing application for the High Mountain Sheep Site, a mile upstream from the confluence. The Department of Interior had their own plans for a federal project. On June 5, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Udall v. Federal Power Commission, which temporarily prevented construction of a dam and stipulated that hydroelectric projects under the Federal Water Power Act, must consider the "public interest" in their decisions. The decision represnted a turning point in the interpretation of the Federal Power Act to consider environmental consequences of proposed hydropower development. The decision also resulted in delay that gave groups time to advocate for the conservation of Hells Canyon through a prohibition on additional hydropower development with the establishment of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in 1975; this legislation included designation of the Wild and Scenic Snake River.