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.
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.
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.
The National Marine Fisheries Service would increase spending on
Northwest salmon recovery by $9 million in FY2001, under the final
budget of President Clinton's term.
The Northwest Power Planning Council this week unveiled preliminary
analysis of seven river management schemes that shows all the options
producing positive change for chinook salmon populations in the Columbia
River Basin.
The Multi-Species Framework process drew polite applause this week from
Columbia Basin interest groups that for the most part like the potential
and intent but withheld judgment on its usefulness in guiding salmon
recovery processes.
Federal officials heard pleas about the need to restore salmon
populations, and preserve the economic functions of the Columbia
Basin's hydroelectric system during the first public meeting planned around the region to gather public comment on fish recovery planning efforts.
Farmers, ranchers and loggers took turns in Pendleton Jan. 25 bashing the 4(d) Rules proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Columbia Basin Forum Committee this week met for the first time in
three months, setting for itself an ambitious agenda to begin its policy
level exploration of the region's four Hs -- hydro, harvest, habitat and
hatcheries
The federal caucus will be taking its developing salmon recovery
products on the road next month, spotlighting three Corps of Engineers studies of Lower Snake River hydrosystem configuration options. More follows.
About 13 miles of salmon spawning and rearing habitat in the lower
Columbia River estuary could be recovered if improvements suggested by a
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' environmental assessment are approved.
The beginnings of a Columbia Basin subbasin planning effort were
redirected last week following Northwest Power Planning Council members'
grumblings that the process' grass roots have not branched out to
include land managers and other local entities.
The process of amending the Columbia Basin's $127 million regional fish
and wildlife program began Wednesday with a call for broad rules to live
by, not specific measures for managing fish and wildlife populations.
Despite a stand-offish policy stance reiterated this week by Washington
Gov. Gary Locke, the governors of Oregon, Idaho and Montana decided
Thursday to forge ahead with a plan to bring the region more authority
in fish and wildlife recovery decision-making.
About 30 people offered opinions Tuesday during the National Marine
Fisheries Service's first of 15 scheduled public hearings in the
Northwest to accept comments on its proposed "4(d) rules" for 14 species
of steelhead and salmon listed as threatened under the federal
Endangered Species Act.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has released a draft of a
supplemental biological opinion on operation of the Columbia River
federal power system to federal and state agencies, along with tribes,
for quick review. It hopes to complete the BiOp by the spring 2000
juvenile migration.
The long-term benefits produced by recovering salmon populations
outweigh the short-term economic gains produced by logging the fish's
habitat, according to a new report previewed Wednesday for Oregon's
Board of Forestry.
Basing the region's salmon recovery efforts on "the best available
science," -- a phrase included in nearly every salmon-related state,
federal or tribal document these days -- is easier said than done,
according to a federal researcher.
A supplemental biological opinion completed last month blesses a plan to
continue federal operations which times the release of 427,000 acre feet
of reservoir water in Idaho to coincide, primarily, with the migration
of Snake River fall chinook salmon listed Endangered Species Act.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
