To: Jose Aguilar, Commander and District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Protect Endangered Fish in Oregon!

Wild winter steelhead are native to Oregon’s upper Willamette River. They are listed as threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act, due in part to harm from non-native fish released into their habitat. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pays to produce non-native summer steelhead and release them into the Willamette River for angling during the summer months. Studies show that summer steelhead compete with, prey upon, or interbreed with native winter steelhead, and threaten their survival. Commander Aguilar, to protect native winter steelhead and save taxpayer dollars, we urge you to stop the Corps of Engineers’ production and release program of hatchery steelhead into the upper Willamette River basin.

Why is this important?

Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm dedicated to defending wildlife in the West. On March 7, 2017, WELC served a Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to protect wild winter steelhead.