Saying that habitat doesnt stop at the waterline, an initiative petition
is being circulated in Washington state that would ban commercial gillnets
and other net fishing in Puget Sound and on the Columbia River. A bill
introduced in the 1999 Oregon legislature seeks similar protection of salmon
by also banning the nets.
Of both efforts to ban commercial net fishing, Steve Fick, president
of Salmon for All in Oregon, said the gillnet fishery is the most selective
and the most managed ...

A preliminary look at seven proposed Columbia River fish and wildlife
management alternatives gives only a glimpse of the potential costs --
some of which total billions of dollars -- and benefits to the humans that
live in the basin.
A "summary of human effects" completed in late April by contractor CH2M-Hill
emphasizes that the initial work is limited in scope. Because of gaps in
available data, the report provides a sketchy look at alternatives being
considered via the ...

None were ruled out, but a "constructive review" produced numerous ideas
for reshaping and fleshing out seven proposed alternatives for Columbia
Basin fish and wildlife management.
Alternatives range from dam breaching to current operations with severe
limitations on harvest and emphasis on habitat restoration.
Ecological and "human effects" work group scientists completed their
review -- initially billed as a first-round scientific analysis -- last
week. For the most part the reviews ...

A key Democratic congressman on power and salmon issues has sharply
criticized environmentalists' national campaign to breach four lower Snake
River dams, saying it is alienating him and other friendly members of the
Northwest delegation.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., took issue with the campaign's portrayal
of breaching as a "budgetary windfall" for the federal government
and with its plan to seek support among members of Congress who have long
charged that the Northwest's ...

Two of the region's newly seated leaders expressed contrasting views
on two Columbia Basin hydrosystem issues last week in presentations to
the Northwest Power Planning Council in Boise.

Both Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission executive director Don Sampson stressed that the region needs
to reach a collaborative decision on fish and wildlife recovery strategy.
But they also pointed out potential obstacles to a consensus plan.

Kempthorne employed