A policy alternatives work group brainstormed on procedural issues while
staff continued shaping a scientific work plan this past week in coordinated
efforts to develop a multi-species framework to guide Columbia Basin fish
and wildlife management.

"Things are really starting to roll," according to Peter Paquet,
a Northwest Power Planning Council staff scientist and member of a science
steering group that has helped create the groundwork for the project.

Funding for the ...

Development of a "framework" that could lead to a regional,
multi-species fish and wildlife recovery plan was given a boost Thursday
when the Bonneville Power Administration agreed to provide $894,000 for
the project's first phase.

"Most of the issues we were concerned with were taken care of"
and discussions are continuing on other unresolved issue, Bob Lohn, BPA's
manager, fish and wildlife, said. "It made the most sense to move
forward with the ...

For fish and wildlife recovery to succeed, the region needs to "bring
together in one place the accountability" for mitigation programs,
says Judi Johansen, the new administrator for the Bonneville Power Administration.

Not coincidentally, the power marketing agency also funds a huge percentage
those recovery efforts.

Johansen made her remarks Wednesday to the Northwest Power Planning
Council, which makes the final recommendations annually on how $127 million
in BPA funds

Nez Perce "conservation" law enforcement efforts could get
up to $57,000 this late summer and fall if other agencies agree to a Northwest
Power Planning Council recommendation allowing the use of funds originally
allocated for fish and wildlife programs.

Si Whitman, the Nez Perce Tribes director of fish and wildlife, approached
the Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee with the proposal Tuesday, saying
the money was needed to meet payroll demands through the end of the ...

Financing a bull trout recovery effort on Glacier's Lake McDonald may
be tricky, but U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Wade Fredenberg
says there are many potential funding avenues, including the Bonneville
Power Administration.

Fredenberg believes that Lake McDonald is the place to start a recovery
effort in western Montana, since Glacier National Park and his agency have
like-minded mandates to restore native fisheries.

Ridding the lake of invasive lake trout, the bull ...

PENDLETON-An overburdened budget and differences of opinion between
fish managers and scientific reviewers were among the topics of discussion
Wednesday as the Northwest Power Planning Council Fish and Wildlife Committee
worked toward fiscal year 1999 project funding recommendations.

Project selection issues will be discussed in three more venues this
month as the Council prepares to make mid-September recommendations for
the $127 million direct Fish and Wildlife Program. The next is at

An $894,500 funding request for multi-species framework development
has been delayed until four tribal representatives can meet with the management
team guiding the work.

The Northwest Power Planning Council last week approved a letter asking
that the Bonneville Power Administration fund the first phase of the development
project, but held off delivering it while discussions continued among the
treaty tribes and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.

Neither the tribes ...

A letter has been penned and is poised for mailing, but that request
for multi-species framework development funding is stalled for at least
another week as Columbia River Basin fishery managers and those involved
in the Three Sovereigns process ponder its worth.

The letter calls for the Bonneville Power Administration to allocate
$894,500 to be spent between now and the end of the calendar year on the
project's first phase. The Northwest Power Planning Council, whose staff
is ...