The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

By Don C. Brunell

Editor’s Note: The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday, after this column was written, that it had deadlocked 4-4 (with Justice Kennedy abstaining) on the Washington culvert case, and therefore the lower court ruling will stand.

While much of the media buzz over declining salmon runs focuses on dam removal and predation by sea lions and cormorants, the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to decide whether Washington State needs to spend an additional $2.4 billion to replace more road culverts.

In 2001, Western Washington Tribes sued claiming the state needed to remove culverts w...