In anticipation of a soon-to-be-released biological opinion, PacifiCorp
this week filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act and
the Administrative Procedures Act in Oregon's Klamath Basin.
The National Marine Fisheries Service on Monday (March 11) teamed with
home building groups and others in asking the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia to allow the withdrawal of critical habitat
designations for 19 Pacific salmon and steelhead populations listed
under the Endangered Species Act.
Montana's representation on the Northwest Power Planning Council went
through a rapid changeover this past week with the controversy-plagued
incumbent, Leo Giacometto, resigning Friday (March 8) and Gov. Judy
Martz picking a longtime Council staffer to fill the post Tuesday.
The battle lines remain clearly drawn about whether southwest
Washington's 125-foot-tall, concrete Condit Dam should be removed from
the White Salmon River to revive a free-flowing ecosystem, or retained
to provide the many benefits people have come to expect since the hydro
project was built in 1913.
Western Republican members of Congress this week said a scientific
report finding last year's cut-off of Klamath Basin irrigation water was
not justified bolsters their case for reforming the Endangered Species
Act.
A series of articles this week in The (Portland) Oregonian analyzing the
economic and environmental costs of deepening the Columbia River
shipping channel has prompted strong public responses from the Port of
Portland and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
While not all river operations required by the National Marine Fisheries
Service's 2000 biological opinion are costly to the region's power
system, the price tag for most of the actions taken to help restore
salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin is high, costing the power
system millions of dollars in lost revenue, according to preliminary
findings in a study by the Northwest Power Planning Council.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it will recalculate the economics
of deepening the lower Columbia River channel using costs and benefits
that more closely describe the project as it has evolved since its 1999
report.
The Corps, along with lower Columbia River ports, is proposing to deepen
the river by three feet in order to accommodate deeper draft boats.
Thirteen environmental and fishing groups on Tuesday sought to intervene
in a federal court lawsuit that is challenging the Endangered Species
Act protected status of coho salmon in the Klamath River basin.
Citing "years of inaction" by the Oregon Board of Forestry, a coalition
of conservation and fishing groups has brought suit against the state
agency, claiming its top official is allowing logging practices that
violate the federal Endangered Species Act.
Six years after failing to reach consensus on federal legislation to
authorize and fund a third phase of a water-exchange project in the
Umatilla River Basin, parties are attempting again to work out their
differences in time to convince Congress to add about a quarter of a
million dollars to the Bureau of Reclamation's budget to start a
feasibility study.
Two conservation groups filed a complaint late last month in federal
court seeking a final decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
protect the Kootenai River burbot of northern Idaho and northwest
Montana under the Endangered Species Act.
Senate Democratic leaders have revised their comprehensive energy bill,
including a section on hydropower relicensing, and could bring it up for
debate next week.
Utilities and energy developers complain that the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission process is often lengthy and expensive and that
other federal agencies have too much authority to set fish passage and
other environmental requirements.
One of the most notable hot seats for federal officials in the Pacific
Northwest has only gotten hotter since Bob Lohn took over in September
as regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
A Benton County judge in Washington ruled in favor of eastern Washington
irrigators in late January when he prohibited the state's Department of
Ecology from using water flow limits in the National Marine Fisheries
Service's biological opinion as the standard by which the state
restricts water rights.
President George W. Bush this week sent Congress an FY03 budget that
would boost spending on Columbia Basin salmon recovery to $506 million,
according to Northwest federal agency leaders.
The Bureau of Reclamation released this week for review a draft
biological assessment of its Klamath projects in southern Oregon and
northern California that assumes irrigators will get nearly all the
water they need.
Three Northwest environment groups on Thursday released an internal
cost estimate prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service in
2000 that indicates the federal government is spending only half of
what is needed to implement the Columbia Basin salmon recovery plan.
A commercial fishing method tested on 20 boats last year will be
employed later this month on a much grander scale -- potentially 200 or
more fishing boats -- on the mainstem Columbia River as spring chinook
salmon begin to appear on their way to hatcheries and spawning grounds.
Idaho's top fish and wildlife official resigned Wednesday citing
"irreconcilable philosophical differences" with the state's Fish and
Game Commission
The resignation letter faxed from Idaho Department of Fish and Game
director Rod Sando to the commission said "I think it will be best for
everyone if I move on."
The state of Oregon is among the list of official participants in
lawsuits filed in November accusing the Bonneville Power Administration
of failing to give fish and wildlife "equitable treatment" in planning
federal Columbia-Snake river hydrosystem operations.
Former U.S. Attorney for Oregon, Sid Lezak, has agreed to lead a
mediation effort among the parties involved in a lawsuit that claims a
2000 National Marine Fisheries Service Federal Columbia River Power
System biological opinion is doomed to failure and should be rewritten.
Several groups filed a lawsuit today (Jan. 25) challenging the state of
Montana's approval of a silver mine that would burrow under the Cabinet
Mountain Wilderness.
Legislation introduced Jan. 18 in the Washington House of
Representatives would transfer all powers, duties and functions of the
state Fish and Wildlife Commission to a proposed legislative Fish and
Wildlife Committee.
An idea hatched by Northwest Power Planning Council members from Oregon
and Idaho and aired publicly this week would change the way Columbia
Basin fish and wildlife project proposals are developed and judged.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
