Plans to address many of the same Endangered Species Act issues faced in the Columbia/Snake river system, including the threat of lawsuits, are being developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its projects in the Willamette River basin.
Federal Columbia/Snake river hydrosystem deviations April 3 from measures designed to benefit migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead point to the need to cement fish provisions both legally and through more precisely defined operational protocols, according to documents filed this week in U.S. District Court.
The largest international conference for fishery observer programs will begin May 15 in Victoria, British Columbia, to strengthen observer programs, which act to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Federal court opinions rendered Thursday faulted the Bonneville Power Administration for a decision in 2000 that saddled its "preference customers" with costs incurred via an agreement with investor-owned utilities, and by establishing fiscal year 2002-2006 rates with fish and wildlife cost estimates that were "not supported by substantial evidence."
The state of Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the U.S. Department Interior announced on Tuesday they have resolved a number of water rights issues needed to finalize a major water rights agreement for the Snake River and begin implementing its provisions.
Deviations from desired Columbia/Snake river hydro system fish operations April 3 were relatively minor in impact and responded to unanticipated power needs and a mechanical failure, and were not an intentional violation of salmon protections, according to legal documents filed Monday by the U.S. Justice Department.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council in a letter this week expressed "serious concerns about the FY 2007-09 (project funding) decision process, the number of changes Bonneville (Power Administration) made to Council funding recommendations, and several policy issues."
Conservation groups hope a successful, though untimely, legal challenge to federal cattle grazing allocations in Oregon's John Day River basin will help bring better protections in the future for Mid-Columbia steelhead and bull trout.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has instructed the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council to devise over the next year a state proposal for a network of marine reserves along the Oregon coastline, in addition to examining efforts to accommodate wave energy production and aquaculture in Oregon .
Time, perhaps as little as a month, will tell the fate of a controversial proposal from the state of Oregon to drop the John Day Dam reservoir level to "minimum operating pool" as a strategy to potentially improve survival of yearling spring/summer chinook salmon.
Columbia/Snake River Irrigators Association challenges to U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden's decisions on Columbia River basin salmon issues, and complaints about the judge himself, were rejected April 6 via a memorandum issued by a three-judge Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel.
A legal reaffirmation this week of the federal government's need to fortify its Columbia/lower Snake river hydrosystem salmon protection strategy has drawn responses ranging from anger, to glee, to resolve that the job can be accomplished.
Putting hard numbers to the phenomenon called "latent mortality" – the delayed effect of downstream fish passage through the Columbia/Snake hydro system -- will continue to be in the near term anyone's guess, according to a report released this week by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board.
A 2005 lower court order that struck down the federal government's plan for protecting salmon and steelhead that migrate through the federal Columbia/Snake River hydrosystem was upheld this week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Status conferences on June 11 will potentially schedule the homestretch for two court-ordered remand processes that aim to develop "biological opinions" regarding federal dams' impacts on Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead stocks.
The Washington State Department of Ecology has released a final environmental report related to the proposed removal of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in Klickitat County.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is asking the Canadian federal government to intervene in the environmental review for an open-pit coal mine in Canada’s Flathead basin.
In order to better prepare for future tasks, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and staff need a "clearer understanding" of recent fish and wildlife project funding decisions, according to a letter forwarded Monday (March 19) to the Bonneville Power Administration.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week decided to seek further clarification on fiscal year 2007-2009 funding shifts that represent both contractual fine-tuning and the imposition of policy choices that are, from its standpoint, yet unresolved.
Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez this week unveiled proposed federal
legislation that federal officials say will promote safe and sustainable aquaculture in order to meet the growing demand for seafood, help the U.S. industry better compete and reduce the need for U.S. imports.
Washington Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott this week introduced the Salmon Economic Analysis and Planning Act (SEAPA), which calls for the Government Accountability Office and the National Academy of Sciences to conduct analyses of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead recovery efforts.
Federal attorneys said last week the two new biological opinions on protected Columbia/Snake salmon and steelhead likely would be delivered to U.S. District Court at the same time.
New legislation introduced March 5 calls for the Oregon Water Resources Department to assess, plan and develop new storage facilities to provide new water supplies in the Columbia River Basin.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council continues to mull whether it should officially respond to Bonneville Power Administration Feb. 26 fish and wildlife project funding decisions that strayed in many respects from the Council's desires.
The installation of the first of two prototype structures at McNary Lock and Dam should be completed this week in time to test surface bypass technology during the fast approaching 2007 juvenile salmon and steelhead outmigration.
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