The Bonneville Power Administration did not violate the "equitable treatment mandate" for Columbia Basin fish and wildlife when it declared an emergency during the 2001 drought and power crisis, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week.
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.
The Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) extended into October its 14-day stay it granted in mid-August to Seattle-based Columbia River Alliance for Nurturing the Environment (CRANE).
The Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board granted on Thursday a temporary stay of 14 days to Seattle-based Columbia River Alliance for Nurturing the Environment (CRANE) that effectively invalidates the Washington Department of Ecology's approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plan to deepen the Columbia River by three feet.
NOAA Fisheries released its long-awaited Habitat Improvement Program (HIP) biological opinion that could speed up approvals of habitat projects and, in a limited way, it could address some of Judge James Redden's concerns that the Federal Columbia River Power System 2000 BiOp does not provide enough certainty that recovery actions will occur.
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.
After a court-ordered second review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has again determined that the westslope cutthroat trout does not warrant listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because the agency has found that abundant, stable, and reproducing populations remain well distributed throughout its historic range.
A Seattle-based environmental group that appealed in July the Washington Department of Ecology's approval of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to deepen the Columbia River by three feet, filed today with the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board a request for a stay, which asks that Ecology's approval be set aside while the appeals work their way through the state process.
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.
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
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.
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.
The Senate Appropriations Committee this week approved $5 million in federal funds for the Columbia River channel deepening project and related ecosystem restoration.
Considering that President Bush did not request money for the controversial project in his FY2004 budget and the House has approved only $2 million, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called the Senate funding "a shot in the arm."
Federal funding for recovery of Columbia Basin and other Pacific salmon runs would be flat for next year under two key spending bills being considered by the House.
The House Appropriations Committee this week approved budgets for the two largest programs for FY2004.
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.
Although federal fisheries and action agencies have made improvements
in streamlining endangered species consultations in the Pacific
Northwest, lengthy delays and other problems persist, the General
Accounting Office told Congress last month.
A shot of cold water from Dworshak Dam on the North Fork Clearwater River was released this week to help cool water in the lower Snake River.
Flows from the dam's reservoir, which is nearly full, increased from minimum flows to 14,000 cubic feet per second on Wednesday ( July 9).
Opponents of recent rules promulgated by Oregon's Water Resources Department (WRD) in September 2002 that govern water withdrawals in the Deschutes River basin submitted what is to be the first of a series of briefs with the Oregon Court of Appeals.
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.
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