Salmon bill adding habitat put on hold

On one issue, all in western Washington are agreed.

Saving wild salmon runs is a priority.

What is not clear cut, as testimony during a virtual State House of Representatives committee hearing indicates, is what sacrifices must be made, and by whom, to preserve Washington’s signature migratory fish.

House Bill 1838, designed to protect salmon habitat areas, is a key element in Gov. Jay Inslee’s $187 million salmon recovery program. It is named the Lorraine Loomis Act for the late Swinomish fisheries director and chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

But the bill, introduced by Re...