"Independent" scientists will remain on the sideline as attorneys plunge into arguments this autumn over the legality of the latest federal Columbia/Snake river hydro system salmon protection plan.
BiOp: Irrigators Granted Status To Argue John Day Pool Issues; Montana Tribes Focus On Resident Fish
The list of combatants continues to grow in litigation over how federal Columbia/Snake river dams manipulate a limited, coveted resource -- water.
Much work needs to be done to assess potential impacts to salmon, steelhead and other species that would result if a plan to replace Portland's Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River moves forward, according to fish and wildlife management officials.
The Bureau of Reclamation has selected a new tribal liaison officer for the Pacific Northwest to represent the agency in working with tribes and others in implementing new agreements and related interagency programs aimed at improving Columbia River Basin fish stocks.
The time is likely not ripe to call on independent scientists to evaluate whether a new federal government plan for the Columbia/Snake river hydro system is adequate to avoid jeopardizing the survival of salmon and steelhead stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Saying it wants to refute "erroneous views concerning the relationship between river velocity and salmon survival to be proffered by the State of Oregon and plaintiffs," the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association has asked to intervene in renewed litigation over the adequacy of the federal government's Columbia/Snake river hydro system salmon protection strategy.
A federal judge on Wednesday put his stamp of approval on a new 10-year agreement guiding salmon harvest and hatchery production on the Columbia River with the goals of rebuilding weak fish populations and providing sustainable fisheries.
A draft "biological opinion" released at the end of July has determined that the registration and use of three pesticides -- chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion -- jeopardize the survival of 28 West Coast salmon stocks.
Before the real battle begins, litigants will debate whether independent scientists should be employed during a legal review of the government's new strategy for assuring that the federal Columbia/Snake river hydro system avoids jeopardizing the survival of salmon and steelhead stocks protected under the Endangered Species Act.
A coalition of fishing and environmental groups this week settled a lawsuit with the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the impacts of pesticides upon federally protected salmon and steelhead.
A hail of criticism from states, tribes and others has been showered on a federal assessment of environment impacts that would result from the proposed construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal on the banks of the Columbia River.
Aquaculture shows significant economic potential and good prospects for success in the United States, according to a new report commissioned by NOAA.
The state of Oregon on Tuesday asked the U.S. District Court to send federal agencies back to the drawing board to develop a Columbia/Snake hydro system strategy that makes imperiled salmon stocks, not the power system, the top priority.
The idea has surfaced once again to employ "independent" scientists in legal proceedings over the how the federal Columbia/Snake river hydro should be operated to provide the most benefit for migrating salmon and steelhead.
A landmark agreement was signed last week that opens the possibility that the first new water rights in decades could be granted to Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association members while assuring that flows for salmon and steelhead aren't diminished.
Environmental organizations say they have won a battle this week in the effort slow the spread of invasive species in the Columbia River, Great Lakes and other ports of call.
CBB Shorts: Flathead Lakes Get Westslope Cutthroat; Wolves Under ESA Again; Oregon Wolf Pack Includes Pups; USFWS Seeks ESA Grant Proposals From States; Idaho Tallies Salmon Season Results; Columbia Sturgeon Season Modified
Mainstem Columbia/Snake River hydroelectric operations planned in NOAA Fisheries Service's 2008 biological opinion are expected to cost the region's ratepayers an estimated $15 million more per year as compared with 2004 BiOp provisions, according to analysis prepared by Northwest Power and Conservation staff.
A long-sought, and the first ever, "biological opinion" for federal multi-purpose dams in Oregon's Willamette River basin was released today, outlining actions NOAA Fisheries Service says will avoid jeopardy to imperiled fish stocks and spur their recovery.
NOAA Fisheries, in effect, rewrote language in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and ignored other language, in granting authority for the lethal removal of California sea lions that prey on salmon below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam, according to a motion filed last week in U.S. District Court asking that the decision be rescinded.
The captive broodstock hatchery program that has kept the endangered Snake River sockeye salmon population afloat has begun an expansion aimed, through sheer numbers, at helping revive the stock and providing better understanding of its problems.
Protected salmon stocks would be adversely affected by the construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Columbia River estuary, but a proposed mitigation package would largely balance the biological ledger, according to a final environmental impact statement produced by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff.
The state of Idaho this week asked Judge James A. Redden to dismiss a new challenge to the federal government's Columbia/Snake river salmon protection plan, saying the U.S. District Court does not have current jurisdiction in the lawsuit.
So the radical environmental groups are suing once again to prevent the Federal dam operators from using the best available science to protect the Columbia River salmon. Between them and Judge Redden, they are the second most deadly force to the salmon in the region. Only the predacious birds, fish, seals, and sea lions kill more juvenile salmon each year.
(Revised From June 17 Version)
A new plan for protecting salmon and steelhead affected by the Columbia/Snake hydro system -- like the document it replaced -- faces a legal challenge from fishing and conservation groups who contend federal agencies changed their biological analysis methods in order to produce a "no jeopardy" conclusion, but changed little else.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
