Attorneys representing Columbia River basin tribes and states, and other interests told a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday that a collaboration with federal agencies went well in many regards in developing future protections for threatened salmon and steelhead that ply the river's hydro system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Thursday signaled its support for the recently released draft biological opinions for the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system and upper Snake irrigation projects, and offered help in implementing the plans for resurrecting threatened salmon and steelhead stocks.
Despite grim warnings issued prior to a Wednesday in-court status conference, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden expressed hope that an ongoing collaboration and due diligence by the federal agencies in exploring its options can produce a legally and scientifically defensible Columbia Basin salmon protection plan.
Attorneys representing Columbia River basin tribes and states, and other interests told a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday that a collaboration with federal agencies went well in many regards in developing future protections for threatened salmon and steelhead that ply the river's hydro system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Thursday signaled its support for the recently released draft biological opinions for the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system and upper Snake irrigation projects, and offered help in implementing the plans for resurrecting threatened salmon and steelhead stocks.
There will be much to talk about in court next week, and much to fix before a draft NOAA Fisheries' biological opinion on the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system goes final, according to comments filed in U.S. District Court Friday (Nov. 30) by the state of Oregon, Columbia Basin tribes and the plaintiffs in the long-running lawsuit.
Wildlife biologists and veterinarians from ODFW successfully captured 29 bighorn sheep from an area near Rufus yesterday and relocated the animals to Baker and Malheur counties.
There will be much to talk about in court next week, and much to fix before a draft NOAA Fisheries' biological opinion on the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system goes final, according to comments filed in U.S. District Court Friday (Nov. 30) by the state of Oregon, Columbia Basin tribes and the plaintiffs in the long-running lawsuit.
Wildlife biologists and veterinarians from ODFW successfully captured 29 bighorn sheep from an area near Rufus yesterday and relocated the animals to Baker and Malheur counties.
The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority has launched the "Status of the Resource website at http://www.cbfwa.org/sotr
A third call has been issued for papers and symposia that can be highlighted during the 2008 annual meeting of the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society and Oregon Chapter May 4-9 in downtown Portland.
A week-long review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Anadromous Fish Evaluation Program will be held Dec. 3-6 at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
Participants in long-running litigation will meet in federal court Dec. 12 to discuss "issues" arising from the latest federal plan for protecting for Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has had, and will continue to have, a "major" role in efforts to assure that 13 listed Columbia/Snake river salmon stocks aren't jeopardized by the federal hydro system and are indeed lifted toward recovery, according to the NOAA Fisheries Service's Northwest regional administrator.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week recommended more than $364,000 in spending for within-year fish and wildlife project budget requests, including $160,000 in startup "coordination" funding for the newly formed Upper Snake River Tribes.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week approved the final draft of its Power Division's "Carbon Dioxide Footprint of the Northwest Power System" paper, which charts steadily growing outputs of the greenhouse gas and details what might be done to curb that growth.
Federal officials this week said that a better scientific understanding of the fish and their needs, and an infusion of resources to meet those needs over the next 10 years, will lift 13 threatened or endangered Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead stocks toward recovery.
Initial impressions this week of a "draft" federal Columbia River Basin salmon protection strategy ranged from sharp criticisms of the tome, to praise, to "wait and see" attitudes.
Despite scientific and economic rebuffs, Montana's Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes continue to pin hopes on fishing contests to restore ecological balance in the Flathead Lake/River system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week distributed by letter its "Request For Recommendations to Amend the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program."
NOAA Fisheries Service today released two draft biological opinions which determine that federal Columbia/Snake River hydropower and irrigation projects do not jeopardize the survival of 13 salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Tribes say they will work to improve the draft salmon recovery plan issued today, while industry and river-user interests said the new plan is science-based and a significant improvement over past plans.
Public comments suggested tinkering, expanded analysis and scope and other fine-tuning, but, overall, most judged the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's draft "Carbon Dioxide Footprint of the Northwest Power System" paper as a needed "dose of reality" for the region.
Researchers from Oregon State University and a variety of collaborators have been awarded more than $2.3 million in funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to conduct seven separate studies involving Oregon streams and watersheds.
There's much to do, and too little time to do it, the NOAA Fisheries Service this week told the federal judge who on Oct. 9 gave the agency 60 days to reconsider the status of the Oregon Coast coho salmon.
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