Conservation and science groups came out this week in support of Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery practices that prevent
hatchery-raised fish from mixing with wild stocks when they return from
the ocean to spawn.
The annual debate on how and when to use water from Dworshak Dam to
augment flows in the lower Snake River has gotten off to a more vigorous
start this year than in past years.
The Senate last week passed two bills by Northwest members to create or
expand programs dealing with salmon recovery projects.
Two Northwest Republican senators this week said they suspect the delay
of federal agencies’ recommendation for modifying or removing lower
Snake River dams to improve salmon recovery is aimed at helping Vice
President Al Gore’s presidential campaign.
Harassment of Caspian terns in the lower Columbia River estuary ran into
a roadblock this week when environmental groups filed for an injunction against hazing the birds on Rice Island. The filing resulted in a
temporary restraining order. More to follow.
The westslope cutthroat trout, a brightly colored fish found primarily
in Montana and Idaho and parts of Oregon and Washington, does not
warrant listing as a threatened or endangered species under the
Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced
today.
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, on Thursday introduced a bill to place a
moratorium on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulations
for reducing water pollution from runoff.
A proposed federal land management plan for roughly 63 million acres in
Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington is intended to leave a lighter
footprint both on the land and on the resource-based economies within
that territory.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must comply with the Clean Water Act
when operating the four lower Snake River dams, U.S. District Court
Judge Helen Frye ruled recently.
Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt this week said a regional Fish and
Wildlife Service official’s comments in support of breaching four lower
Snake River dams does not reflect his views.
Active harassment of what may be the largest colony of Caspian terns in
the world will begin next week in an attempt to move the birds closer to
feeding grounds where they will feast less on juvenile salmon and more
on other marine species.
Federal scientists conclude that drastic action must be taken soon to
head off extinction for Columbia Basin salmon runs in the worst shape,
and decision-makers must take that plunge without the certainty that
those actions will work.
The Bonneville Power Administration’s top official admitted Tuesday that
ESA-spawned mandates may increase immediate Columbia Basin fish and
wildlife program needs, but she showed a reluctance to juggle funds from
one account to another to answer those needs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked Oregon Gov. John
Kitzhaber this week for his concurrence to list the Portland harbor as a Superfund site. The state missed its deadline last week to
get a state deferral and avoid the listing. More to follow.
Fishermen in Southeast Alaska have finally found unity on a salmon
management issue, thanks to federal consideration of Alaska harvest
cutbacks in order to restore chinook runs in the Snake River.
Like most farmers, Jerry Scheid grew up in an era when people thought
dams could do no wrong.
Juvenile salmon and steelhead passed through Bonneville Dam’s No. 1
powerhouse fared better when encountering a newly designed turbine than
they did when passing through traditional turbines, according to results
from a recently completed $2.5 million biological study.
The National Marine Fisheries Service reviewed the impacts of proposed
tribal and state harvests of salmon on the mainstem Columbia River and
concluded that a 9 percent harvest rate of the most critical salmon
stocks would be appropriate to avoid jeopardy.
Late-arriving sanctions driven by the federal Endangered Species Act
forced Lower Columbia gill-netters off the river last week and
threatened to dock sport fishers aiming at Willamette River spring
chinook.
The Port of Portland proposed this week to take over cleanup efforts in
the lower 5.5 miles of the Willamette River from Swan Island to the
river’s confluence with the Columbia River to avoid an imminent
Superfund listing.
A Northwest senator is seeking a federal feasibility study of pumping
irrigation water from the Columbia River in exchange for reducing
diversions from the Yakima River.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber on Thursday met with Eastern Oregon
constituents for the first time since he publicly supported breaching
the four lower Snake River dams as a viable option for salmon recovery.
In an effort to drum up more public support for breaching federal dams
to “halt salmon extinction,” a national conservation group has declared
the lower Snake River its most endangered river for the second year.
Jack Stanford has a bit of advice for a committee that will be pondering
ways to improve management of Flathead Lake and its fisheries: Be
careful.
State, federal, tribal and representatives of the public are expected to
emerge from weeklong meetings in Sacramento with a set of regulatory
options intended guide sport and commercial fisheries off the West Coast
during the summer and fall of 2000.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
