Plaintiffs Return To Federal Court To Continue Legal Battle Over Columbia Basin Salmon Recovery, Judge Lifts Stay
September 14th, 2025
Plaintiffs in long-running court battles that since 2001 have challenged environmental impact statements and biological opinions regarding the impact of operations of Columbia and Snake river federal dams on imperiled salmon and steelhead are heading back to court, according to a filing by the groups this week in U.S. District Court in Oregon.
Tribe Files Lawsuit Challenging Forest Service’s Approval Of Massive Gold Mine In Salmon River Basin: ‘Scale Of Disturbance Will Be Staggering’
September 14th, 2025
The Nez Perce Tribe filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court this week challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of a large open-pit gold mine in the headwaters of Idaho’s South Fork Salmon River. The undammed Salmon River basin is a critical source of Idaho’s salmon, steelhead and bull trout.
Council Draft Report To Congress Notes ‘Significant Challenges To Salmon, Steelhead Still Reman,’ Declining Stocks, Climate Change
August 29th, 2025
In a draft report, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council says since the Northwest Power Act in 1980 its energy efficiency programs have saved some 8,000 average megawatts, enough to power seven cities the size of Seattle, while saving energy consumers some $5 billion in lower utility bills.
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Cormorants, Terns, Pelicans, Gulls: Council Gets The Latest Numbers On Managing Avian Salmonid Predation Across Columbia/Snake Basin
August 19th, 2025
Predation by sea birds on salmon and steelhead smolts in some years is responsible for as much as 50 percent of all smolt mortalities during the outmigration to the sea from the Columbia and Snake river basins, according to a presentation this week at a meeting of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
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After Withdrawal Of Biden Administration’s Basin Salmon MOU, Plaintiffs Tell Federal Court They Are Considering Next Steps
August 11th, 2025
Plaintiffs in litigation that challenged the U.S. government over a biological opinion and environmental impact statement for the operations of Columbia and Snake river dams and their impacts on salmon and steelhead have returned to court.
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Groups File Lawsuit Contending Steelhead Net Pen Aquaculture In Upper Columbia Polluting River, Violating Clean Water Permits
August 11th, 2025
Two environmental groups are suing to halt what they say is pollution released from three commercial net pen aquaculture facilities that produce steelhead located on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. The groups say Pacific SeaFood Aquaculture LLC has been violating its Clean Water Act permits since 2020 and has been harming wild fish and the river’s ecosystem, home to anadromous fish species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Columbia River Clean-Up Act Introduced To Continue Funding For Reducing Toxics, Pollution In Basin
July 26th, 2025
Oregon’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) introduced the Columbia River Clean-Up Act to reauthorize the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program.
BPA Seeks Major Changes To Council Fish/Wildlife Program, Wants Goals ‘Narrowly Tailored’ To Hydro Influence
July 18th, 2025
In its recommendations for change to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s 2014/2020 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, the Bonneville Power Administration says the Program’s estimates and goals are beyond the power marketing agency’s statutory responsibility.
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Study Looks At How Strategic Transactions Of Water Rights During Shortages Can Both Conserve Water, Restore Fish Habitat
July 18th, 2025
The study, published June 20 in Nature Sustainability, details a new system for leasing rights to water from the basin while reallocating some water to imperiled habitats.
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Lawsuit Seeks Quicker Action On NOAA Pending Determination Whether Alaska Chinook Salmon Warrant ESA-Listing
May 23rd, 2025
The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a lawsuit this month in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. in an effort to speed up NOAA Fisheries’ review of the Washington-based conservation group’s proposal to list Chinook salmon in Alaska under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Administration’s Proposed Rule Would Alter Definition Of ‘Take’ For ESA Species, Critics Fear Less Habitat Protections
May 5th, 2025
President Donald Trump, in an April proposed rule, has directed the Secretary of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescind the long-standing definition of “harm” to species covered by the federal Endangered Species Act. The existing definition of harm as the ESA is currently written, the Administration says, is contrary to the “best meaning” of the term “take.”
Corps Final EIS For Willamette Valley’s 13 Dams Selects Alternative Best For ESA-Listed Fish, Next Comes Supplemental EIS
April 21st, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released the first environmental impact statement since 1980 for its Willamette Valley system of 13 dams. The final EIS analyzes several alternatives and selects the preferred alternative the Corps says will be best for spring Chinook and winter steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act. The Corps expects to release its Record of Decision in May.
California Awards $15 Million For Salmon, Steelhead Restoration Projects
February 7th, 2025
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced the selection of 15 projects that will receive funding for the restoration, enhancement and protection of salmon and steelhead (anadromous salmonid) habitat in California watersheds.
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Conservation Groups File Lawsuit Calling For NOAA Fisheries To Speed Up ESA Listing Of Olympic Peninsula Summer, Winter Steelhead
February 7th, 2025
Western Washington’s Olympic Peninsula summer and winter steelhead were found by NOAA Fisheries in November 2024 to be at moderate risk of extinction, but the federal agency has yet to list the fish as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, according to a new complaint filed Jan. 17 in federal court by The Conservation Angler and the Wild Fish Conservancy.
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Washington Governor Joins Oregon Governor In Affirming State Commitments To Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative Aimed At Restoring Salmon Runs
December 9th, 2024
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has directed Washington state agencies to take all actions necessary, in cooperation with the state of Oregon and four lower Columbia Basin treaty tribes, to fulfill the State of Washington’s commitments to the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative.
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Conservation Groups Settle Lawsuit With WDFW Over Lower Columbia River Hatcheries, Litigation Continues With NOAA, ODFW
September 28th, 2024
A lawsuit contending that lower Columbia River hatcheries downstream of Bonneville Dam are a threat to wild salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act was settled in part last week.