The following is the transcript of President's Bush's remarks on Columbia Basin salmon restoration delivered August 22 at Ice Harbor Dam on the Lower Snake River.
A coalition of business, fishing, and conservation groups have sent a legal warning to the federal Bureau of Reclamation and NOAA Fisheries that the operation of 10 dams and reservoirs on the upper Snake River in Idaho needs to be re-evaluated to avoid harm to salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act.
In its comments on Grant County Public Utility District's draft license application for two mid-Columbia River dams, the Yakama Nation has proposed the utility share the benefits of the dams with those who are impacted by the dams' presence.
That includes the Yakama Nation, but the tribes also include three Washington counties that touch on the two projects.
After hearing $1.3 million in bills for 2002 work must be paid from an overtaxed 2003 budget, irritated Northwest Power and Conservation Council members this week took to task Bonneville Power Administration fish and wildlife contract management practices, and managers.
The Northwest Power Planning Council this week took a step toward improving salmon and steelhead survival in the north-central Washington's Methow and Twisp rivers by urging the expenditure of nearly $1 million to shield the fish from inhospitable irrigation ditches.
Fearing a positive decision would move them onto slipperier legal ground, federal officials on Tuesday said they would not implement changes in federal Columbia River hydrosystem operations this summer that proponents say would yield great economic and upriver resident fish benefits without hindering salmon and steelhead recovery efforts.
Agency officials got an earful Tuesday from utility and industry representatives zeroing in on what they feel is a prime example of federal Columbia River salmon recovery decision-making run amok.
The occasion was the gathering of federal officials to consider hydrosystem operational changes suggested by the state of Montana.
Four eastern Washington city councils approved this week a settlement that would free up water from the Columbia River to meet the cities' water needs for the next 50 years.
The settlement now must go for final approval to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board, which asked the groups to seek a settlement outside the court to avoid a costly and time consuming court battle.
Strong upper Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead returns of recent years brighten stock status assessments, but it appears work remains to ensure they won't slide toward extinction, according to evolving analysis by NOAA Fisheries.
The Deschutes Basin Land Trust announced this week that it has successfully purchased the land to create the Metolius Preserve on a 1,240-acre forest tract near Camp Sherman, Ore., that contains important fish and wildlife habitat.
A "committee of lawyers" will provide a window into NOAA Fisheries processes as it works over the next 10 ½ months to correct deficiencies in the salmon and steelhead protection plan aimed at avoiding jeopardy posed by the federal Columbia/Snake hydrosystem.
The federal government's plan to protect and recover threatened and endangered Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead -- already being revisited as the result of a court order -- may become target for another legal punch
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council last week recommended that nearly $2 million in fiscal year 2003 capital funds be spent on two hatchery-related projects and a fish passage improvement proposal.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday made final revisions to its hydroelectric licensing regulations, creating a new streamlined process to save both time and money for dam owners and developers and result in better coordination among federal, state and tribal agencies that set fish passage and other conditions for projects.
Closing the spill gates in summer when wholesale power prices are at their peak has the potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue with relatively small effect on Endangered Species Act-listed Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead, according to Northwest Power and Conservation Council staff biological and economic analyses.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission's executive director says the tribes "question the value" of a recently released scientific report that advises limited use of hatchery "supplementation" until its risks and benefits can be better evaluated.
Tribal fishers casting their nets in Columbia River reservoirs above Bonneville Dam hauled in a total of 2,107 adult summer chinook salmon, 326 steelhead and 10 sockeye this week during a rare-midsummer commercial fishery.
Representatives of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife this week cited financial and biological uncertainty in a plea for continued funding for their experimentation with live capture commercial fishing gear -- so called tangle nets.
Two orders issued last week by U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden hint at his expectations and set out firm deadlines for federal government reporting on how it will bring a Columbia/Snake river salmon and steelhead protection plan into compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
Frustrated with Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Program funding modifications, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation has for the second time in recent weeks asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to step in.
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit that successfully challenged a federal Columbia River basin salmon protection plan on Wednesday failed in their attempt to have the strategy taken off the books while its legal shortcomings are addressed.
The head of federal salmon recovery efforts in the Pacific Northwest pledged this week to consult state and tribal officials on what changes need to be made to the 2000 biological opinion on the Columbia Basin federal hydropower system to satisfy a recent court decision rejecting the salmon recovery plan.
Federal agencies, all four Columbia River basin states and farming, navigation, irrigation and utility interests last week all rallied to the support of the NOAA Fisheries' salmon and steelhead protection strategy that has been declared illegal in U.S. District Court.
The Bonneville Power Administration estimates its wholesale power rates could go up approximately 5 percent over current rates for the next three years, beginning Oct. 1.
That's significantly less than the 15 percent increase proposed last February. The agency reported the preliminary number this week in a draft record of decision in its rate process.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council last week authorized the expenditure of slightly more than $1 million to launch subbasin plan development in three areas and to further work across the Columbia River Basin on what are expected to be the road maps for fish and wildlife project priority setters.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
