It was almost classic “East versus West” Tuesday as political officials
from Washington’s “dry side” urged rejection of dam breaching as an option. More to follow.
A panel of federal officials heard contrasting advice on how to run
Columbia Basin rivers, dams and fisheries at a hearing in Kalispell
Wednesday.
Despite his controversial stand in favor of breaching Snake River dams,
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber this week continued to work with fellow
Northwest governors and members of Congress on how best to restore
salmon.
Major changes are foreseen for the region’s hatchery operations as fish
managers make adjustments to protect a growing list of threatened salmon
and steelhead populations while still providing promised treaty, and
other, fisheries, according a National Marine Fisheries Service
official.
With Snake River and Columbia River dams in place, augmenting mainstem
flows with upstream water does not do much for achieving a natural river
hydrograph, nor does it have much of an effect on speeding smolts on
their journey downstream.
At least some members of the group charged with judging the
Columbia-Snake river hydrosystem’s technical fixes for fish want more
time to evaluate what they call “questionable conclusions” drawn in a
Corps of Engineer Phase I report on potential John Day reservoir
drawdown.
The Columbia River estuary offers the region an important opportunity to
improve salmon survival.
A new incarnation of a massive plan for federal lands in the Northwest
will be released for comment in the next month.
A new report by a federal budget watchdog group and the National
Wildlife Federation identifies 25 Army Corps of Engineers projects that,
according to the organizations, waste $6 billion and harm the
environment.
On-the-ground implementation of a fish and wildlife plan organized by
subbasins could move forward more quickly — and it ultimately could be
more successful — if compliance with the plan is given regulatory
approval and certainty before restoration actions are taken.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman on Thursday
proposed a new USDA Forest Service road management policy for the
380,000 miles of forest roads.
Nearly all speakers at the Federal Caucus’ “All-H” hearing in Boise
Wednesday were in favor of taking measures that would lead to salmon
recovery, but they were split as to how to proceed.
Breaching Four Lower Snake River dams is not the only way, but it’s the
best way to start rebuilding threatened and endangered Columbia Basin
salmon and steelhead stocks, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said last Friday
afternoon (Feb. 18).
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s demand for immediate salmon recovery action
startled some with its call for Lower Snake River Dam breaching, but
didn’t immediately swing political momentum in his direction.
U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., criticized two presidential candidates
and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber for supporting or refusing to rule out
the dam breaching option for Columbia-Snake salmon recovery.
A study of impacts to Oregon transportation and farmers shows that there
is a significant domino effect from breaching four lower Snake River
dams in Washington that could cost the Columbia River barge industry in
Oregon between $4 million and $11 million annually.
A coalition of conservation and fishing groups on Tuesday asked
Portland’s U.S. District Court to order federal agencies to comply with
their own directives to provide Columbia Basin water flows to aid
migration of salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species
Act.
A comprehensive Columbia Basin fish and wildlife recovery plan that
includes the breaching of the four lower Snake River dams is Oregon Gov.
John Kitzhaber’s preferred option, according to notes from a speech he
was expected to deliver today in Eugene to the American Fisheries
Society.
Opponents of dam breaching, accusing federal officials of threatening
their livelihoods and Indians of overharvesting, came out in force
Thursday at an emotionally charged federal hearing in Pasco.
Federal officials were bombarded Tuesday with comments from tribal,
sport and commercial fishers who said their communities and cultures had
been plundered by hydrosystem development aimed at benefiting upstream
interests and by salmon recovery plans that ignore the obvious —
Environmental groups and commercial fishermen filed suit this week
against the National Marine Fisheries Service saying the agency’s
biological opinion of a project to deepen the Columbia
River shipping channel lacked scientific foundation and will harm young salmon.
A yearlong lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland could decide in
the next month whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must comply with
Clean Water Act standards when operating four lower Snake River dams.
Umatilla Mayor George Hash led the cheers Wednesday when the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers shared its draft recommendation for no further study
and, consequently, no drawdown for the John Day Dam.
Federal officials who say decisions will be based on pure science and
economics were met with a flood of emotional pleas Tuesday during a
meeting in Spokane to discuss, among other things, dam breaching’s
potential for aiding salmon and steelhead recovery.
Those who support removing the four lower Snake River Dams to recover
threatened and endangered fish made a surprisingly strong showing at
public meetings in Clarkston, Wash., on salmon and steelhead recovery
Thursday.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
