Tribes say they will work to improve the draft salmon recovery plan issued today, while industry and river-user interests said the new plan is science-based and a significant improvement over past plans.
There's much to do, and too little time to do it, the NOAA Fisheries Service this week told the federal judge who on Oct. 9 gave the agency 60 days to reconsider the status of the Oregon Coast coho salmon.
Idaho's four members of Congress joined forces this week in support of appropriations bill language that would require implementation of measures outlined in the soon-to-be defunct 2005 biological opinion on Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects on the upper Snake River.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council decided Wednesday to trigger on Nov. 1 the yearlong process to amend its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
A federal court judge on Friday (Oct. 5) ordered that the status of the Oregon coast coho salmon, which has bounced on and off the Endangered Species Act list, be assessed once again.
A coalition of farm, building and water user groups this week again pressed their case in federal appellate court that genetically akin naturally born and hatchery produced salmon are equals under the Endangered Species Act.
Washington U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell this week asked for removal of a appropriations bill provision that she says threatens an ongoing collaborative process aimed at producing a new protection plan for Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The federal government, state of Oregon and Alsea Valley Alliance all say that a federal magistrates "findings and recommendations" regarding the state of the Oregon Coast coho salmon should be tossed out.
The long-running pursuit of a new federal license to operate three dams in the Snake River's Hells Canyon entered a new phase this month sans a proposal to provide salmon passage to historic spawning grounds upstream.
The state of Idaho says U.S. courts' rationale for voiding the federal government's Columbia River basin salmon protection plan goes contrary to a Supreme Court ruling, as well as an appellate court order.
Removing four lower Snake River federal hydro projects to improve conditions for salmon would be "counterproductive" to efforts to stem the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to a paper released Thursday by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council for public review.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has decided to stick with, at least for now, a schedule that will trigger its fish and wildlife program amendment process in November and complete the revisions by late next year.
Federal action agencies Thursday unveiled the "most comprehensive approach ever" to revive protected salmon and steelhead stocks that negotiate the Columbia/Snake river hydro system's dams and reservoirs.
A federal judge this week dismissed claims by Fish Passage Center employees that their constitutional rights had been violated by the Bonneville Power Administration and its administrator during a process aimed at ending funding for the center.
A federal court order issued Wednesday reaffirms Northwest tribal treaty rights and, potentially, puts the state of Washington on an expensive hook of replacing or fixing hundreds of culverts that impede fish passage.
Federal attorneys this week argued that a U.S. magistrate wrongfully took on the role of "scientific arbiter" last month in declaring illegal the NOAA Fisheries Service's withdrawal of its proposal to list the Oregon coast coho salmon stock under Endangered Species Act.
A federal judge whose 2001 decision prompted a re-evaluation of 27 West Coast salmon and steelhead stocks' protected status on Tuesday ruled that 16 salmon listings satisfy Endangered Species Act requirements.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday approved a $640,844 infusion to keep on track the remodeling of Idaho's Eagle Fish Hatchery, and expansion of its sockeye salmon captive broodstock program.
A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Thursday heard testimony pro and con regarding proposed legislation to expedite the process for gaining permission to lethally remove sea lions preying on federally protected salmon in the Columbia River.
Attorneys for farm, builder and water user groups on Thursday appealed a court decision that declared the federal government's Endangered Species Act listing of Upper Columbia River steelhead, and its policy for determining hatchery stocks' status in listing decisions, illegal.
The federal government has opted against joining the state of Idaho in asking reconsideration of an April 9 appellate court opinion that affirmed the illegality of NOAA Fisheries Service's 2004 biological opinion on the Columbia/Snake hydro system.
The state of Idaho wants the courts to reconsider the legality of Federal Columbia River Power System salmon protection strategies in light of a recent Supreme Court decision that says agencies can't ignore one law while obeying another.
The Grant County Public Utility District has asked for public comments on its draft plans to build hatchery facilities in the relatively pristine White River drainage in central Washington and rebuild spring chinook salmon populations there and in nearby Nason through hatchery supplementation.
The comings and goings of endangered Upper Columbia steelhead can be monitored more closely by researchers as of July 10 through operations of the Grant County Public Utility District's new, $4.2 million "Off Ladder Adult Fish Trap" facility at Priest Rapids Dam.
Funding secured this month by Oregon Congressman Greg Walden puts on the fast track a water supply study that should determine the best ways to appropriate water for fish and irrigators in the Umatilla River Basin.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
