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 recently developed Multi-Species Framework analysis also invites
the region to pick the price they are willing to pay to revive fish and
wildlife populations in the Columbia-Snake river basin.
All seven river management schemes considered in the analysis ...

Following a meeting between Columbia River Indian tribes and federal
agencies in Washington, D.C., last week, the White House Council on Environmental
Quality has pledged the government will consult them on salmon issues,
including the All-H recovery approach.
The assurance was made by CEQ Chairman George Frampton in a Jan. 28
letter to Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Executive Director
Don Sampson.
While federal agencies at the regional level will be focusing on ...

Review of the primary analytical processes being used in Columbia Basin
recovery planning, and a hard look at the region's fish harvest practices,
head the near-term work list for the independent science group assembled
three years ago by the Northwest Power Planning Council and the National
Marine Fisheries Service.
Due also in the coming months will be a review of the impacts of Columbia
River estuary conditions and management on the Council's efforts to "protect,
mitigate and ...

The federal caucus will be taking its developing salmon recovery products
on the road next month, spotlighting Corps of Engineers study of Lower
Snake River hydrosystem configuration options; a Phase 1 study of John
Day Dam drawdown; the multi-agency "All H's" recovery plan; and other documents.
The effort to educate the public about those processes begins Feb. 3
in Portland and touches down in 12 other locations in Idaho, Montana, Alaska,
Oregon and Washington over the following five ...

Washington's Larry Cassidy is perhaps uniquely positioned to influence
the course of salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin.
Little more than a year after his appointment by Gov. Gary Locke to
the four-state Northwest Power Planning Council, Cassidy was elected this
month to chair that body. The Council recommends annually how $127 million
is spent on regional fish and wildlife projects.
Last year the Vancouver businessman was also appointed, again by Locke,
to the state's five-member ...

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.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Montana Gov. Marc Racicot and Idaho Gov.
Dirk Kempthorne have indicated they feel the region needs a firmer grip
on that power, particularly on how Bonneville Power Administration recovery
money is ...