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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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.
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.
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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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.