Oregon and Washington fishery managers on Monday exhibited their math skills as they tried to keep a mainstem Columbia River sport fleet afloat and maximize a targeted, commercial spring chinook salmon fishery.
A federal judge who has said he is predisposed toward overturning the federal government's plan for Columbia River basin salmon recovery said Monday he gained "food for thought" from hearing oral arguments in the lawsuit pressed by conservation groups.
The federal judge presiding in a lawsuit that challenges federal salmon recovery strategies in the Columbia Basin this week issued a "draft opinion" that would -- if it were his final call -- force the agencies involved to rework the plan commonly referred to as the Biological Opinion, or "BiOp."
Hydro operating agencies and to a lesser extent fisheries agencies agreed this week that operations at lower Snake River reservoirs will remain at higher than the minimum operating pools (MOP) in order to give tugboat operators the depth they need to navigate certain sections of the river.
Hard work, experimentation and compromise were the words uttered most often Thursday as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council caught its collective breath, and approved unanimously amendments to the Columbia/Snake river mainstem portion of its fish and wildlife program.
A provision of the NOAA Fisheries 2000 biological opinion calls for the Bureau of Reclamation to begin implementing habitat projects, such as providing screens at irrigation diversions, but the agency must get congressional authorization before it can begin the work. That authorization could also bring with it additional money to address Northwest fish and wildlife issues.
The public record has closed, but deliberations go on as the Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council tries to settle on its vision of how it would like federal agencies to operate the federal Columbia/Snake river hydrosystem for the best benefit of fish and wildlife.
Pressured by biological opinion deadlines, the Bonneville Power Administration and its federal partners are pushing for speedy funding and scientific decisions that, to the distress of others involved, go outside the normal process for choosing Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife projects.
Northwest Power and Conservation Council members on Wednesday postponed action on "mainstem" amendments to its fish and wildlife program, hoping to forge in the next two weeks enough agreement on water management and other issues to win the needed supermajority for passage.
The issue of whether the Bonneville Power Administration is willing, and able, to borrow money to fund the acquisition of fish and wildlife habitat became more pointed this week with project sponsors urging a policy shift so the agency can follow through with prior commitments.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is expected next week to decide whether or not to approve amendments for the Columbia River mainstem portion of its fish and wildlife program.
The Council meets Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11-12, in Whitefish, Mont.
The Independent Scientific Review Panel pulled no punches in what was its first technical review of a subbasin plan submitted through Northwest Power and Conservation Council's fish and wildlife program amendment process.
The Bush administration's implementation of the 2000 Columbia Basin salmon recovery plan received its second annual failing grade this week from Northwest environmentalists, who predicted it will flunk its mandatory third-year evaluation this September.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week is to offer its recommendations -- with caveats -- for balancing a fiscal year 2003 budget that the Bonneville Power Administration estimated in December would spend $40 million more than the federal agency can afford.
Intensive number crunching and a reliance on the capitalization of planned land acquisitions would push Columbia Basin fish and wildlife expenses under a $139 million spending limit without the need for large-scale project terminations, according to a proposal developed by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council staff.
Congress has finally passed an annual spending bill to fund most departments of government for this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
The catchall appropriations bill for FY2003 includes a $700 million increase in the Bonneville Power Administration's borrowing authority as well as funding for numerous salmon recovery programs that were sought by Northwest members of Congress.
The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which provides matching grants to West Coast states and Columbia River tribes for habitat restoration and other projects, has come under fire from the Bush administration.
The White House Office of Management and Budget criticized the program for failing to target funds to help those species that are most at risk, not having program-wide performance measures and being slow to distribute grants.
President George W. Bush in his budget for fiscal year 2004 is asking Congress for less spending by federal agencies on Columbia Basin salmon recovery than he requested last year.
Last year, Bush requested a total of $506 million for FY03, but a catchall spending bill now moving through Congress would cut that by more than $50 million
The process to cut the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's fish and wildlife program's 2003 budget to the $139 million cap imposed by the Bonneville Power Administration could be making some progress.
The final report on the costs and impacts of deepening the Columbia River navigation channel from 40 feet to 43 feet, released this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, lowers the project's cost and raises its benefits.
And although the Corps made some concessions to critics, lower river communities say the project still does not adequately address their concerns and they are continuing to oppose the project.
The process to squeeze the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's fish and wildlife program under a $139 million budget cap lurched forward this week with thorny policy issues and ever-changing ledger sheet continuing to complicate things.
The number of fall chinook redds found this year at Snake River sites is the largest since Idaho Power and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began surveying redds in 1991. The utility and agency, surveying the mainstem river, as well as the Grande Ronde, Imnaha, Salmon, Potlatch and Clearwater rivers, found a total of 1,851 redds.
Federal, state and tribal managers are mulling their options this week, saying a proposed lopping of Columbia Basin fish and wildlife project funding is inequitable and that certain steps could and should be taken to avoid the cutbacks.
The Bush administration has approved the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's strategic plan for its fisheries program, and as a result, this week announced it will boost funding by 16 percent for national fish hatcheries, including those involved in Columbia Basin salmon recovery.
Supporters and opponents of proposed revisions to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's mainstem fish and wildlife program both claimed Tuesday to have law, science and the best interests of the region on their side
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