Idaho's four members of Congress joined forces this week in support of appropriations bill language that would require implementation of measures outlined in the soon-to-be defunct 2005 biological opinion on Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects on the upper Snake River.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council decided Wednesday to trigger on Nov. 1 the yearlong process to amend its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
A science-policy "exchange" hosted last month by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council produced few sure answers but did serve its intended goal, highlighting key uncertainties in salmon and steelhead restoration efforts.
There is only one way to restore healthy, naturally produced Columbia River basin salmon populations, according to researcher Jack Stanford.
But the region will have to swallow bitter pills to save the chosen ones – knocking back harvest and hatchery production and allowing Mother Nature to provide them a productive environment, he said.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Independent Scientific Review Panel sought perspective, and feels it got it, in a recently completed review of 16 fish and wildlife projects being carried out in the Umatilla River subbasin in north-central Oregon.
NOAA Fisheries Service on Monday announced the adoption of an Endangered Species Act recovery plan for upper Columbia spring-run chinook salmon and upper Columbia River steelhead.
The rearing of steelhead trout in hatcheries causes a dramatic and unexpectedly fast drop in their ability to reproduce in the wild, a new Oregon State University study shows, and raises serious questions about the wisdom of historic hatchery practices.
A federal court judge on Friday (Oct. 5) ordered that the status of the Oregon coast coho salmon, which has bounced on and off the Endangered Species Act list, be assessed once again.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded grants totaling $600,000 to two Portland-based partnerships to restore or improve important fish habitat in Washington and Oregon.
The Trust for Public Land this week announced the purchase of 1,466 acres of mixed conifer and oak woodlands in Polk County, Oregon, that will be afforded permanent protection from development while being maintained as a sustainable working forest.
In a world in which instability, whether driven by people or nature, seems to be increasing, “resilience” is emerging as a key concept – a desirable characteristic of both natural and human systems and communities.
The long-running pursuit of a new federal license to operate three dams in the Snake River's Hells Canyon entered a new phase this month sans a proposal to provide salmon passage to historic spawning grounds upstream.
Removing four lower Snake River federal hydro projects to improve conditions for salmon would be "counterproductive" to efforts to stem the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to a paper released Thursday by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council for public review.
A two-pronged attack has been mounted seeking the overturn of a June 13 court order that declared NOAA Fisheries Service's "hatchery listing policy" contrary to the Endangered Species Act and restored "endangered" species protections for wild Upper Columbia River steelhead stocks.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday recommended $2.4 million in funding during fiscal years 2008-2009 for five projects that will test new methods and technologies designed to directly benefit fish and wildlife in the Columbia River basin.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has decided to stick with, at least for now, a schedule that will trigger its fish and wildlife program amendment process in November and complete the revisions by late next year.
Federal action agencies Thursday unveiled the "most comprehensive approach ever" to revive protected salmon and steelhead stocks that negotiate the Columbia/Snake river hydro system's dams and reservoirs.
Efforts to improve the lot of Columbia River salmon and steelhead have increased over the past six years, and so have the costs, according to an "overview" of federal agencies' newly developed proposal for assuring fish populations aren't jeopardized by the federal hydro system.
The Bonneville Power Administration has pegged its 2006 fish and wildlife costs at $851.7 million, a total that is the second highest on record and nearly $300 million more than the previous year's total, according to a draft annual expenditure report produced by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee this week agreed to recommend to the full Council that a package of five "innovative" project proposals requesting $2.4 million be funded during fiscal years 2008-2009.
With broodstock and other management adjustments, Columbia River Gorge national fish hatcheries are "uniquely situated" to aid native salmon restoration and reintroduction and continue to fuel in-river and coastal harvests, according a draft review released earlier this month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Widening the divide between hatchery fish and naturally produced salmon can, along with habitat improvements, can achieve Endangered Species Act recovery goals for Lower Columbia River chinook, according to preliminary findings released late last month by the Hatchery Scientific Review Group.
A tiny electronic tag from a steelhead in the Columbia River ecosystem was recently discovered in southern New Zealand, almost two years later and 7,700 miles away.
The PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag was recovered from the stomach of a muttonbird, known locally as the “titi” and formally as the sooty shearwater, harvested by indigenous Rakiura Maori people.
A paring down of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's "innovative" fish and wildlife project list stalled this week after a flood of public comment raised red flags about some of the favorites.
The End Creek Restoration Project in the Grande Ronde Valley that created habitat for spring chinook salmon and summer steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act was awarded the Western Division American Fisheries Society’s Riparian Challenge Award for 2007.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
