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The states of Washington and Oregon, and a coalition of organizations, joined together to send a letter to President Joe Biden Tuesday calling for increased funding at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Columbia Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization that for many years has been involved in key legislation regarding efforts to protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and its tributaries. It focuses on environmental laws to stop illegal pollution, protect salmon habitat, and challenge fossil fuel terminals.

A team of scientists concluded in a recent paper that breaching four dams in the Lower Snake River Basin in Washington provides the best and only reasonable opportunity to promote recovery of key fish species, including salmon and steelhead.

Though 100 degree-plus weather is on its way next week, unanticipated cool, wet weather in May and June prompted the Washington Department of Ecology to cancel the drought declaration for Central and Eastern Washington.

ODFW marine biologists and fishery managers continue their work to decrease whale entanglements in crabbing gear with good success. The frequency of entanglements has lessened over the last few years across the West Coast.

The ill-fated “Into the Wild” adventurer chronicled by author Jon Krakauer and film director Sean Penn may have been able to cross the river that turned him back had he tried a day earlier or later, research by Oregon State University suggests.

NOAA Fisheries is recommending more than $95 million in funding for 19 new and continuing programs and projects to support West Coast salmon and steelhead populations, ranging from funds for efforts to reintroduce salmon and steelhead above Grand Coulee Dam, $24 million for habitat restoration in Washington and $7.2 million to Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation to “fund projects that are compatible with the Columbia Basin Collaborative sustainability goals.”

The latest technology to study glaciers fits in a backpack and can be carried up steep mountains.

A federal district court this week restored comprehensive Endangered Species Act regulatory protections to hundreds of species and the places they call home.

Idaho Fish and Game staff have confirmed three separate incidents of bears attacking and killing livestock in the Panhandle’s Bonner and Boundary counties.

With numerous whales in poor body condition and several pregnancies reported, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Thursday issued an emergency order requiring commercial whale-watching vessels to keep at least one-half nautical mile away from endangered Southern Resident killer whales this summer, and all boaters are urged to Be Whale Wise and do the same.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a revised penalty to the Port of Morrow for additional violations involving overapplication of wastewater containing nitrogen to agricultural fields in the Lower Umatilla Basin, an area with longstanding groundwater contamination.

At a signing ceremony on Saturday, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission formalized and celebrated their partnership for co-management of the Bears Ears National Monument.

Last week, an angler reported to Idaho Fish and Game that he had recently caught a walleye on the Snake River below Swan Falls Dam in Southwest Idaho. The angler provided photos, allowing fisheries biologists to confirm that it was a walleye. The angler will also provide the carcass to IDFG.

The Department of the Interior today transferred fish production at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, which the agency says is “an important move underscoring the Biden Administration’s commitment to empowering Indigenous communities and supporting Tribal trust responsibility.”

Cultural resource specialists with the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and partners have finalized an agreement that will enhance the protection of historic and cultural resources across the Willamette Valley, where the Corps manages 13 dams and reservoirs in addition thousands of acres of land, while carrying out critical Corps projects.

Last summer was particularly dry and hot in much of Idaho, renewing concerns among some trout anglers about fishing when water temperatures climb. Anglers are often concerned that maybe they shouldn’t be fishing on the hottest days for fear that they might be reducing trout populations, but a recent study on Idaho rivers during a hot summer showed catch-and-release angling did not harm the trout population.

Idaho Fish and Game has received confirmation that six bats tested positive for a fungus that leads to a deadly disease known as “white-nose syndrome.” The bats were located in Minnetonka Cave in Bear Lake County, and it’s the first case of the fungus ever being detected in Idaho after a decade of testing.

With another low run of summer steelhead forecast, angling closures for steelhead, bass and salmon will be in effect for parts of the Deschutes River this summer starting as early as June 1.

The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.

Travis Wendt of Lewiston, Idaho hooked a massive 23.5-inch smallmouth bass while fishing Dworshak Reservoir on May 10th. After a quick photo, Travis released the bass back into the lake, and secured a new catch-and-release state record.

Northern crayfish were found in the Ashland canal, marking the first documented existence of this non-native species in Oregon.

Columbia Riverkeeper and Weyerhaeuser Company reached an agreement this week settling Riverkeeper’s Clean Water Act lawsuit against the timber giant at its Longview mill. The consent decree must undergo a 45-day review period for the U.S. Department of Justice and then be approved by a federal district court judge before it can go into effect.

On Saturday, May 7, off-duty Regional Fisheries Biologist Mike Thomas was fishing the Boulder Creek arm of Lake Cascade with local angler Chris Weber, when Weber landed an illegally stocked, 20-inch, nearly 3-pound mature male walleye. This is the second report of walleye in Lake Cascade in the past four years – with the first report back in 2018, when an angler reported catching a 19-inch walleye near Crown Point.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on its draft periodic status review for snowy plover.

Columbia Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors unanimously named Lauren Goldberg the organization’s new Executive Director starting August 1, replacing Brett VandenHeuvel.

The Hood River Canal Bridge is a major source of mortality for migrating steelhead smolts, according to new research by NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center scientists and the non-profit Long Live the Kings. Approximately half the smolts tracked by researchers died attempting to get past the bridge or soon after.

In 2021, an angler brought in a cool $61,409 for hooking 7,185 salmon-eating northern pikeminnows from the Columbia River. That guy or gal could make even more this year.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, joined with science leaders to help break ground on a $75 million facility that will boost clean energy adoption and make the nation’s power grid more resilient, secure and flexible.

This note responds to John McKern’s letter printed in the latest CBB.

Growing up in a Northern Californian fishing town, NOAA Fisheries scientist Nate Mantua’s family owned a business connected to the local salmon fishing industry. When one of the worst El Niño events ever recorded hit the West Coast in 1982 and 1983, the salmon fishery his family relied on suffered. Mantua would go on to study how to predict El Niño events in graduate school. Now he works to understand the impacts of climate change.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit this week to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebees warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

In the late 90s when we at the Walla Walla District, Corps of Engineers, came up with the concept for making spill safer for fish, our first idea was to dedicate one spill bay for overflow for juvenile fish passage. 

Anglers in Washington can expect similar salmon fishing opportunities this year compared to 2021, with some improved opportunities in the ocean driven by strong expected coho returns, state fishery managers have announced.

Spring Chinook fishing will open under normal permanent regulations on Oregon’s Umatilla River this year for the first time since 2018.

Following a thorough review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reaffirmed the listing of the streaked horned lark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act with a revised 4(d) rule.

As a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the Walla Walla District, Corps of Engineers from 1971 to 2000, I was there when disinformation and misinformation began to spread and hints of breaching the four lower Snake River dams started. 

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon last week approved an opportunity to catch and retain legal-size white sturgeon in the lower 40 miles of the Columbia River beginning May 11.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fisheries biologists began tagging northern pike in portions of the Bitterroot, Clark Fork, and Clearwater rivers this week as part of a new study on pike movement in the Missoula area. The success of the study depends on reports from anglers who catch tagged fish.

The Oregon Ocean Science Trust has awarded $1.1 million in state funding to ocean researchers to help Oregon better understand and monitor and ocean changes.

Traces of DNA that fish species leave behind in the water can reveal the abundance and distribution of fish over large areas of the ocean as accurately as conventional fisheries survey methods, new research shows.

Dworshak Reservoir is expected to be teeming with kokanee in 2022 based on annual surveys conducted in late summer 2021 that revealed record-high kokanee abundance in the reservoir, says Idaho Fish and Game.

An angler caught a smallmouth bass on Feb. 19 while fishing on the Gardner River at its confluence with the Yellowstone River, just outside of Yellowstone National Park.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine takes center stage, remote areas of the Arctic are thrust to the front row of global impacts to the environment, economics and human security.

NOAA issued its U.S. Spring Outlook today and for the second year in a row, forecasters predict prolonged, persistent drought in the West where below-average precipitation is most likely.

NOAA Fisheries has approved a Habitat Conservation Plan and Safe Harbor Agreement with California’s largest owner of private forestlands to protect habitat for salmon and steelhead.

Contending there is a global extinction crisis, more than 150 groups are urging Congress to significantly increase the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s budget for endangered species conservation from $300 million to $704 million — an increase of more than $400 million over the fiscal year 2022 budget.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking additional help marking more than 110 million hatchery salmon and steelhead to identify them as hatchery fish before being released into state waters in 2022.

Washington fishery managers have unveiled salmon run forecasts for state waters in 2022, with many forecasts looking similar to last year’s predictions, and some slight improvements or declines by area. Columba River fall chinook are forecasted to be well below the 10-year average, with coho double the average.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, in another stage of a $73 million project, has completed assembly on the second of three new advanced-designed hydroelectric turbines and begun its installation at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, one of four dams on the lower Snake River.

The U.S. Geological Survey selected the Willamette River Basin in the Pacific Northwest as the latest location for an in-depth examination of factors affecting water supply and demand.  

Martha Williams has been sworn in as Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Williams has been serving as Principal Deputy Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service since January 20, 2021, exercising the delegable authority of the Director.

If you have something on your mind about Columbia Basin salmon recovery and other fish and wildlife and natural resource issues, we want to hear from you. That’s why I am launching Letters To The Editor.

This past December, a mind-boggling 18 feet of snowfall fell in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains! How does so much snow fall in one place in such a short period of time? One of the primary phenomena responsible for such extreme rain and snowfall, particularly in regions like the western U.S., is the atmospheric river. Like their terrestrial counterparts, atmospheric rivers carry tremendous amounts of water over thousands of miles. These aerial versions, however, often bring both severe disruption and great benefit through the heavy rain and mountain snows that they produce.

The first year-class of white sturgeon reared in Idaho’s Niagara Springs Sturgeon Hatchery recently underwent genetic testing to ensure that all fish released into the Snake River are capable of reproducing. These fish are unique from a typical hatchery fish, like rainbow trout, which are typically sterile when they are stocked so they can’t successfully spawn with wild fish.

Hatchery crews at Hoodsport Hatchery on Washington state’s Hood Canal identified a loss of more than 3.5 million chum salmon fry early Monday morning following extreme flooding that resulted in significant debris in the hatchery’s water intake system.

In an effort to meet management objectives and provide necessary protection for dwindling wild steelhead populations, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Wednesday announced a full closure to all sport fishing

Conservation and animal-protection groups announced a combined $22,500 reward this week for information leading to a conviction in the killing of a collared wolf outside the town of Cove in northeast Oregon.

The likelihood of hot, dry, windy autumn weather that can set the stage for severe fires in California and western Oregon has increased 40% due to human-caused climate change, new computer models show.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on its draft status report for the Cascade red fox.

Interesting things are happening in Oregon’s Willamette River basin when it comes to salmon and steelhead recovery. Maybe even a little overlooked for their significance. An Oregon federal judge is running the river, issuing significant directions for how federal dams and reservoirs should be operated to benefit fish.

A federal judge last week restored protection to some gray wolf populations, reversing a Trump-era rule that removed Endangered Species Act protection from the animals across most of the country. Today’s ruling prohibits wolf hunting and trapping in states outside of the northern Rocky Mountains.

Several bureaus across the Department of the Interior submitted to Congress their fiscal year 2022 blueprints for spending over $30 billion implementing the infrastructure bill approved last year.

Abnormally low water this time of year in south coast streams is leaving native fish and redds vulnerable to disturbance. Wild winter steelhead are just starting to spawn while fall chinook fry are leaving their redds and emerging from stream gravel.

The Bonneville Power Administration this week reports that its “strong 2021 financial performance” has carried into the first quarter of 2022. BPA’s current net revenue forecast is $456 million compared to a rate case net revenue forecast of $178 million.

The Deschutes River Conservancy is receiving $1.3 million as part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s $20.5 million package for a suite of 13 long-term drought resiliency projects in five Western states. The Deschutes Basin was the only project site to be selected in the Northwest.

Beating the bite of mosquitoes this spring and summer could hinge on your attire and your skin. New research led by scientists at the University of Washington indicates that a common mosquito species — after detecting a telltale gas that we exhale — flies toward specific colors, including red, orange, black and cyan.

Whether the lower Snake River dams should be breached to revive flagging wild salmon and steelhead runs is certainly a top regional issue. And what the impacts would be to the Northwest power supply is a key factor in the breach/no breach debate.

At the Third NPAFC-IYS Virtual Workshop on Linkages between Pacific Salmon Production and Environmental Changes that took place in May 2021, we hypothesized that an overabundance of salmon, combined with effects of recent marine heat waves, may have been responsible for unexpectedly low returns of all five species of Pacific salmon across the North Pacific in 2020.

Hatchery crews at Lyons Ferry Hatchery in southeast Washington state detected a loss of roughly 249,770 steelhead smolts late last week due to an equipment failure that allowed smolts to escape a rearing pond and make their way into the mainstem Snake River.  

On a map, the heart of Idaho is the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, and its nearly two million-acre watershed. This is a big, wild heart. 

Idaho’s wolf population has remained stable and consistent over the last three years based on camera surveys done last summer and since 2019. The 2021 population estimate for Aug. 1 was 1,543 wolves. The 2020 and 2019 estimates were 1,556 and 1,566.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $25 million in funding to support increased research, development, and demonstration of technologies that harness wave power to create electricity. The funding supports eight projects that will make up the first round of open-water testing at the PacWave South test site off the Oregon coast.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking updated information for 14 wildlife species as part of a periodic review of species that are state-listed as endangered, threatened, or sensitive.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore have launched a comprehensive response to the nation’s growing wildfire crisis – “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests.”

Idaho Power, PacifiCorp and the Bonneville Power Administration have reached a non-binding agreement that they say would “help meet growing customer demand, improve safety and reliability, and reinforce the Pacific Northwest transmission system.”

In 2020, carbon dioxide emissions from Pacific Northwest power plants that burn coal and natural gas totaled 45.64 million metric tons, the lowest in at least 25 years and a roughly 20-percent decline from emissions in 2019 (2020 is the latest year for which emissions data is available). The data reflects emissions from electricity generation at power plants and does not account for ‘upstream’ emissions from, for example, coal mining and gas production.

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated a new program to prevent delays during the transport of watercraft destined for the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. The program, “Call Before You Haul,” provides a toll-free phone number boat transporters can call prior to transporting watercraft from outside the Pacific Northwest to one of the states. The program is currently being piloted in 10 states and is intended to be expanded to all states in 2022.

The year 2021 was marked by extremes across the U.S., including exceptional warmth, devastating severe weather and the second-highest number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters on record. 

Alex Dietz of Bend was fly fishing with an egg pattern on the Deschutes River outside Warm Springs on Dec. 19, 2021 when he hooked a 5 pound 12 oz, 24-inch long mountain whitefish with a 14 inch girth.

The Department of the Interior announced today that it is seeking nominations for members of the new Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names. The committee will identify geographic names and federal land unit names that are considered derogatory and solicit proposals on replacement names.

NOAA Fisheries is seeking information about the sunflower sea star, a large sea star native to the West Coast. The agency is trying to determine whether the species warrants listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Thank you for your concise summary of a busy year in the region’s long-running efforts to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin.  I share your view that Congressman Simpson did us a great service by coming forth with a bold proposal to remove the lower Snake River dams and invest in alternative ways of providing the dams’ benefits, and I am grateful for his leadership.

Canada and the United States met on December 9 to advance talks on the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty. During this round, the United States and Canada discussed ecosystem priorities, post-2024 flood risk management, and Canada’s desire for more operational flexibility.

The Bureau of Reclamation is launching a new prize competition for improved snowpack water forecast techniques throughout the West. Developing better techniques to determine the amount of water stored as snowpack provides water managers more accurate information to make better water management decisions.

Rewards topped $43,000 this week for information on poisoning of the Catherine wolf pack in Oregon earlier this year.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing a Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Impact Statement to address a significant decline in the California bighorn sheep population on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

Amid forecasts for low steelhead returns, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and tribal co-managers at the Hoh Tribe, Quileute Tribe, and Quinault Indian Nation, this week announced restrictions to sport and tribal fishing on Washington coastal rivers.

More than 13 miles of fish rearing and spawning habitat has been restored on Oregon’s Eagle Creek, a tributary of the Clackamas River, after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and partners removed the Eagle Fern Dam earlier this year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under its Columbia River Basin Restoration Program, is issuing two Request for Applications from eligible entities to improve water quality in the Lower Columbia River Estuary and/or the Middle and Upper Columbia River Basin through specific actions to reduce toxics, increase toxics monitoring, and/or increase public education and outreach on pollution prevention to reduce toxics.

In order to protect the long-term health of sage-grouse populations, review new science and comply with court direction, the Bureau of Land Management is beginning a process to consider updates to the range-wide management plans for sagebrush habitat adopted in 2015 and amended in 2019.

Alongside national tribal leaders and federal partners at this week’s 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the Environmental Protection Agency announced renewals of the Tribal Treaty Rights Memorandum of Understanding and the Sacred Sites Memorandum of Understanding.

Researchers find that maintaining genetic variation is critical to allowing wild populations to survive, reproduce, and adapt to future environmental changes.

Former Oregon state legislator Ginny Burdick joined the Northwest Power and Conservation Council this month, replacing Richard Devlin.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is finalizing a revised designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the northern spotted owl, returning to the designation millions of acres excluded by the Trump Administration.

NOAA this week announced it is seeking public comment on the first steps toward designating a new national marine sanctuary in a 7,000 square mile area off the central California coast, adjacent to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

The “Upper Columbia / Okanagan River 2021: One River, Ethics Matter” conference, hosted by Okanagan Nation Alliance and University of British Columbia Okanagan campus, will be held Nov. 17-18.

In drought years and when marine heat waves warm the Pacific Ocean, late-migrating juvenile spring-run Chinook salmon of California’s Central Valley are the ultimate survivors. They are among the few salmon that return to spawning rivers in those difficult years to keep their populations alive, says a new study.

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission announced that Aja K. DeCoteau was selected as the organization’s new executive director at its October meeting, effective November 1.

Puget Sound is not doing well, says the 2021 State of the Sound Report issued by the Puget Sound Partnership.

Scientists have collected genetic material from the beluga whale that was first sighted in Puget Sound in early October. It indicates that the whale is likely from a large population of beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska.

Data gathered by backcountry skiers, avalanche forecasters and other snow recreationists and professionals has the potential to greatly improve snowpack modeling, research by the Oregon State University College of Engineering indicates.

The Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board will accept grant proposals beginning in November for projects to remove barriers that prevent salmon and steelhead from swimming upstream.

Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, co-owners of the Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project on central Oregon’s Deschutes River, this week announced a $1 million grant to the Deschutes Land Trust for habitat restoration aiding migratory salmon in the Crooked River.

As severe drought conditions continue, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project began the 2022 water year with 3.21 million acre-feet of water—one of the lowest starting points in recent years at 52 percent of a 15-year average.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray are exploring options to breach the lower Snake River dams and replace the benefits they provide, Inslee told a virtual gathering of Washington environmentalists Thursday.

Due to drought conditions and low water levels, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has lifted all size limits (minimum and maximum), daily limits for all species of fish and gear limits from Oct. 11 through Dec. 31, 2021, in the Malheur Reservoir.

The Bonneville Power Administration made its 38th consecutive U.S. Treasury payment Oct. 5, on time and in full. This year’s $1.05 billion payment brings BPA’s cumulative payments to the Treasury to more than $32 billion since 1984.

A La Nina has developed and will extend through the second winter in a row, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service. La Nina is a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator and is translated from Spanish as “little girl.”

The UW Climate Impacts Group, along with nine community, nonprofit, and university partners, is launching a program of community-led, justice-oriented climate adaptation work across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will be founded with a five-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is looking for public feedback on a scoping document to inform actions to conserve and rebuild Puget Sound Chinook salmon.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove 23 species from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction, including the ivory-billed woodpecker, last seen in 1944.

Starting next week, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council will be holding on-line public hearings in each of the four Northwest states on the draft 2021 Northwest Power Plan released by the Council last week.

An invasive fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, an often-fatal disease of hibernating bats, continues to spread in Washington. During spring and summer field work this year, scientists with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership and with funding from the U.S. Forest Service, detected the fungus or disease in at least three additional counties in the state.

The 2021 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery season has been extended through Oct. 17 at select registration stations. The reward program, in its 31st season, pays anglers to catch qualifying northern pikeminnow in the Columbia River Basin.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation recently dedicated an enhanced, state-of-the-art hatchery that is expected to double the number of spring chinook salmon released into the Walla Walla River Basin annually.

The National Science Foundation has selected Oregon State University and the University of Washington to lead a collaborative research hub focused on increasing resiliency among coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Last week watercraft inspectors at Montana’s Nashua watercraft inspection station intercepted an outboard motorboat with mussels on the transducer, gimbal and other areas of the transom. The motorboat was traveling from Lake Erie to Kalispell. This is the 50th mussel-fouled boat intercepted this year, surpassing the total number of 35 mussel-fouled boats intercepted in 2020.

In the 1970s, the tiny, endangered Tennessee fish, the snail darter, was in the news regularly — the subject of a Supreme Court ruling, an act of Congress, and a giant proposed dam that threatened it with extinction.

In response to extremely low returns to date of Columbia Basin upriver summer steelhead, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is adopting additional emergency rules to increase protections for wild summer steelhead in central and eastern Oregon Columbia River tributaries.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week approved release of a draft 2021 Northwest Power Plan for public review and comment that calls for continued reliance on existing hydropower and remaining coal and gas plants, among other sources, to meet the region’s energy needs during a transition phase.

The White House has announced the intent to nominate Northwest Power and Conservation Council member Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III as Director of the National Park Service. The nomination will now be considered by the U.S. Senate. Sams has represented Oregon on the Council since April.

Management of many of the largest fisheries in the world assumes incorrectly that many small fish reproduce as well as fewer large ones with similar total masses, a new analysis has found. That can lead to overharvesting the largest, most prolific fish that can contribute the most to the population.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced this week a “Voluntary Drought Initiative” designed to protect populations of salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon from the effects of the current unprecedented drought.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last week approved the purchase of nearly 5,000 acres of land along the Minam River in northeast Oregon as part of Phase one of a project that will eventually create the 15,000-acre Minam River Wildlife Area.

Lorraine Loomis, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission chairperson and Swinomish fisheries manager, passed away August 10 at the age of 81.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing threats to marine wildlife. It is estimated that more than 700 marine species, from blue whales to small barnacles, have had interactions with plastics in the oceans. Plastics now make up 80% of all marine debris and can be found everywhere, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

“Severe and sustained droughts are part of life in the Western U.S., resulting in water shortages, affecting agriculture, municipalities, tribes and ecosystem functions,” says the Bureau of Reclamation in a new web portal providing real-time drought-related information and details of drought actions.

Oxygen-depleted bottom waters occur seasonally along the continental shelf of Washington and Oregon when strong winds blowing along the coast in spring and summer trigger upwellings that bring deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

Mike Clark and a team of fisheries professionals watched the weather forecast for late June and knew it meant serious problems for the more than 7 million salmon being reared in the Columbia River Gorge National Fish Hatcheries. Each day the weather forecast for the Pacific Northwest brought increasingly dire predictions. What started as 104 degrees soon became a forecast of 108 degrees.

In recent years, wildfires on the West Coast have become larger and more damaging. A combination of almost a century of fire suppression and hotter and drier conditions has created a tinderbox ready to ignite, destroying homes and polluting the air over large areas.

The Bonneville Power Administration will decrease power rates by an average of 2.5% and slashed its proposed transmission rate increase in half to an average of 6.1%. The new rates were announced this week as BPA released the final record of decision for its BP-22 power and transmission rate case as well as the TC-22 tariff proceeding.

Due to drought and poor water conditions in the Klamath River, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife successfully relocated 1.1 million juvenile, fall-run Chinook salmon from its Iron Gate Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County.

The Oregon Legislature’s passage of House Bill 3114 is “another historic Oregon first in the fight against ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH) and shows Oregon leaders’ awareness of the importance of healthy oceans,” said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in a press release.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week said it is proposing a revised critical habitat rule for the northern spotted owl that identifies 204,797 acres of exclusions from the 2012 critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act. The Service is simultaneously proposing to withdraw the Trump Administration’s January 15, 2021 rule that would have excluded 3.4 million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl.

Washington is beginning a review of its surface water quality standards and is seeking public input until September 16.

In a first for Washington state, wildlife biologists recently captured and fitted a female grizzly bear with a radio collar. The bear, accompanied by three yearling offspring, was then released to help biologists learn more about grizzly bears in Washington state.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last Friday voted 4-3 to reclassify the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under the state’s Endangered Species Act.

A recent U.S. Geological Survey and Oklahoma State University study shows not all raptor species are equally impacted by collisions with wind turbines. Of 14 species studied, five are at risk of population declines due to collisions.

A massive tiger trout pulled from Loon Lake in northeast Washington’s Stevens County in late June has set a new state record, state fishery managers have confirmed.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host an online public meeting on July 13 at 6:00 p.m., to share information and gather feedback on the potential acquisition of 15,000-acres for a state wildlife area along the Minam River.

Idaho Fish and Game initiated the first fish salvage order of 2021 in mid-June due to low water, which is earlier than usual and signals more challenges ahead as summer progresses. With drought in some areas and near-record high temperatures throughout the state in late June, conditions may become hazardous for fish.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing emergency regulations that began July 1 in several angling zones as Oregon faces a severe drought this summer, putting the state’s salmon, steelhead, trout and sturgeon at risk.

With recent and long term declines in coastal steelhead and last season’s early closure to the 2020-2021 coastal steelhead sport fishery, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery managers are hosting a suite of virtual public town hall meetings this summer and fall to gather feedback from the public as they prepare for next season.

Act now and act together, or watch salmon runs continue to plummet in the Northwest. That was the message Wednesday (July 7) when tribal leaders from throughout the Columbia Basin gathered for a “salmon and orca summit” organized by the Nez Perce Tribe and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.

Temperature significantly increased and snowfall decreased in the iconic Greater Yellowstone Area since 1950 because of climate change, and these trends will likely continue through the rest of the century, according to a climate report published today. The Greater Yellowstone Area includes the headwaters of the Snake River.

Researchers from Oregon State University say ecological data gathered during a recent low-flow experiment in the Grand Canyon is a key step toward understanding Colorado River ecosystems as the amount of water in the river continues to decline.

In an important move to restore Tribal homelands, the Department of the Interior announced this week the transfer of all lands comprising the National Bison Range, approximately 18,800.22 acres, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. The lands, which are completely within the boundaries of the reservation, were transferred to the Bureau from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a new software tool, IrrigationViz, to help analyze the costs and benefits of irrigation modernization.

The Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week implemented an emergency pulse flow release in northern California from Whiskeytown Dam into Clear Creek to benefit Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon.

Sport anglers will have the opportunity to reel in salmon off the Washington coast starting Saturday, June 19 in all four of Washington’s coastal marine areas.

In response to a petition and litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed this week to protect the Mt. Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The USDA Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory last week confirmed rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) in a wild black-tailed jackrabbit collected in Lake County near Christmas Valley, Ore. on May 20, 2021.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District has finalized a Finding of No Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment of the reservoir pool reduction at Willamette Valley’s Detroit Dam in response to a seismic hazard analysis last year.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is enacting temporary restrictions on coastal wild adult Chinook salmon harvest in the Southwest Zone due to low forecasted returns.

Oregon State University has been selected to host a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration institute focused on collaborative study of the rapidly changing ocean and expanded demands on its use.

March and April of 2021 in Oregon were among the driest spring months since the 1890s. Many streams are already at 25 percent of the flow that is typical for this time of year, with flows usually seen in early summer observed in April on some southern Oregon streams.

A new study shows per-area greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s water reservoirs are around 29% higher than suggested by previous studies, but that practical measures could be taken to help reduce that impact.

In an effort to return numbers of bull trout to self-sustainable levels, Yakama Nation Fisheries and their partners last week released 531 bull trout into Kachess Reservoir and 61 bull trout into Gold Creek, a tributary to Keechelus Reservoir.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Sierra Club this week petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to gray wolves, after Idaho and Montana passed legislation aimed at reducing wolf populations in those states.

New developments in recreational fishing technology–from the use of aerial drones and social media scouting reports to advances in hook design–are creating challenges for fisheries management and effective policy making, according to a new study co-authored by University of Massachusetts Amherst researcher Andy Danylchuk.

Hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout will be released into Lake Roosevelt from net pens and fish hatcheries in northeast Washington over the next two weeks.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is asking for help from the public in reporting snapping turtle sightings in west-central Montana.

NOAA Fisheries this week announced the release of two new reports: the Annual Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries and the 2019 Fisheries of the United States Report. The agency says these reports “highlight the continued rebuilding and recovery of U.S. fisheries and the broad economic impact of commercial and recreational fisheries on the U.S. economy.”

The population of white sharks that call the Central California coast their primary home is holding steady at about 300 animals and shows some signs of growth, a new long-term study of the species has shown.

Only five months into the year, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife aquatic invasive watercraft inspection stations staff have already inspected over 5,500 watercraft; 11 of which were fouled with invasive zebra and/or quagga mussels.

Days after Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill allowing the state to kill up to 90 percent of the state’s wolves, more than 100 scientists, several from the Northwest, this week called upon Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate federal protections for gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

A count of the Western Monarch butterfly population last winter saw a staggering drop in numbers, but there are hopeful signs the beautiful pollinators are adapting to a changing climate and ecology.

Communities, industries, farms and endangered fish in both Washington and Oregon depend on the Walla Walla River Basin where streamflows and aquifers have steadily declined, despite a decades-long effort to find lasting water solutions in the region.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposed rule to revoke the January 7, 2021, final regulation that limited the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Significant concerns about the interpretation of the MBTA have been raised by the public, legal challenges in court and from the international treaty partners, says the agency.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has released a new study showing, for the first time, the impacts that a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone would have on Puget Sound communities.

Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently announced seasons and regulations for 2021 Columbia River summer and fall salmon and steelhead fisheries.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is trucking millions of hatchery-raised juvenile Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon this spring to San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and seaside net pens due to projected poor river conditions in the Central Valley. The massive trucking operation is designed to ensure the highest level of survival for the young salmon on their hazardous journey to the Pacific Ocean.

What Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is calling “a major new piece of legislation,” co-sponsored by Oregon U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, was introduced in the House of Representatives last week. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2021 (RAWA) would provide new resources for the conservation of Oregon’s at-risk fish and wildlife species, says the agency.

The Bonneville Power Administration has chosen Joel Cook to be its new chief operating officer. As COO, Cook will be responsible for the agency’s Power and Transmission services, as well as its Environment, Fish and Wildlife and Customer Support Services organizations.

The national conservation group American Rivers, in its annual most endangered rivers report, has placed the Snake River in Oregon, Washington and Idaho at the top of the list. The main threat, the group says, are the four federal dams on the lower Snake River.

After reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to reaffirm the listing of the Pacific Northwest’s streaked horned lark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Service is also proposing a revised special rule under section 4(d) of the ESA to provide for the conservation needs of the species. The announcement opens a 60-day public comment period.

President Joe Biden Thursday nominated an Oregon State University professor and a former chief of staff to former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to lead two key agencies – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Land Management.

Registered anglers fishing near the Tri-Cities, Washington, can fish and turn in northern pikeminnow beginning April 19 as part of an early opening trial of the 2021 Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery.

Montana’s watercraft inspectors have intercepted six mussel-fouled boats; the latest boat was stopped at the Anaconda watercraft inspection station on Saturday, April 10.

Scott Turner of Boise, Idaho set a new catch-and-release state record for steelhead. Turner landed the monster sea-going trout on April 11 on the South Fork Clearwater. The fish measured 39.25 inches long — beating Samuel Brumbaugh’s previously held record by 1.25 inches.

Concerns about climate change are driving a growing number of states, utilities, and corporations to set the goal of zeroing out power-sector carbon emissions. To date 17 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico have adopted laws or executive orders to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity in the next couple of decades.

This month Energy Northwest, Grant County Public Utility District and X-energy, LLC signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor.

Although harvest opportunities for chinook salmon will be limited this year in Idaho, that doesn’t mean you can’t put some fresh salmon on the table.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending no change to the current listed status of the grizzly bear in the lower-48 states as threatened under the Endangered Species Act following the completion of a five-year status review. The agency says the recommendation follows a thorough review of the best available science, informed by an independently peer-reviewed species status assessment.

The global movement of goods and people, in its modern form, has many unwanted side effects. One of these is that animal and plant species travel around the world with it.

A new report provides a snapshot of the health of the California Current ecosystem. With the system shifting from a warmer El Niño to a cooler La Niña-influenced system, the ecosystem may become more productive.

Montana’s first watercraft inspection stations are opening for the 2021 season. Inspection stations near Dillon and Ravalli opened earlier this month. The Anaconda station opened Saturday, March 20, and intercepted the first mussel fouled boat of the year.

Fish in Willamette Slough have similar levels of dioxins in their tissue as those in other parts of the Willamette River, according to a study approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced an extension to continue recreational and commercial fishing closures for the Elwha River and its tributaries through July 1, 2022.

Populations of the American bald eagle — the national symbol of the United States — have quadrupled since 2009, according to a new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Oregon State University Distinguished Professor Jane Lubchenco will lead climate and environmental science efforts in the White House as the new deputy director of climate and environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The GPS-collared gray wolf known as OR-93 continues to travel farther south in California than the collared wolves that have preceded him.

Oregon State University researchers analyzed more than 17,000 public comments focused on orca conservation in the state of Washington and found that the most common emotional sentiments were trust, anticipation and fear.

Biologists with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe will resume gill netting efforts this spring to reduce northern pike numbers in Windy Bay, Benewah, Chatcolet, Round, and Hidden Lakes. In cooperation with the Idaho Fish and Game, the project aims to reduce pike predation on native, lake-run cutthroat trout in select areas of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

A quarter-century-old harvesting restriction intended to last one year has served as an obstacle to returning eastern Oregon national forests to the healthier, more fire-resilient conditions they embodied in the late 1800s, research by the Oregon State University College of Forestry shows.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued Oregon State University a license to build and operate the nation’s first pre-permitted wave energy testing facility, culminating an unprecedented regulatory process that spanned nearly 10 years.

Treaty Indian tribes in western Washington strongly support state legislation passed by the state House of Representatives this week that calls for placing a statue of the late natural resources and civil rights champion Billy Frank Jr. in the National Statuary Hall in the nation’s Capitol Building. The statue would replace the Marcus Whitman likeness.

Initial surveys and reports suggest that angler success, satisfaction, and harvest of Kootenai River burbot in 2021 are higher than what was observed in 2019 and 2020.

Wildlife agencies are urging pet and aquarium stores to remove “Betta Buddy Marimo Ball,” a moss plant for aquariums, after invasive zebra mussels were discovered inside the product.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland and Walla Walla districts will close all Corps navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers March 6 at 6 a.m. for regularly-scheduled annual inspections, preventative maintenance and repairs.

Continued reports of sick or dead birds at backyard feeders across Northwest states are prompting fish and wildlife agencies to recommend people leave their wild bird feeders down, or take extra steps to maintain them.

The problem of invasive Northern Pike in the Columbia River Basin is one of those problems that is someone else’s until it becomes yours.

The Environmental Defense Fund is launching a new platform today to improve data collection and management of fishing in the ocean using smart cameras coupled with artificial intelligence to get an accurate assessment of the number of vessels fishing in a particular region.

With Feb. 22-28 declared Invasive Species Awareness Week by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that a new watercraft inspection Station will open near Cle Elum in mid-March.

Pacific sardines are a small but sometimes numerous fish closely intertwined with California’s fishing history. A new study linking climate change and the northern sardine stock fishery shows that they may shift north along the West Coast as the ocean warms.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fishery managers have scheduled a variety of opportunities for the public to participate in setting state-managed salmon fishing seasons for 2021, beginning with an annual salmon forecast meeting on Feb. 26.

The British Columbia province on Feb. 24 will be hosting a Virtual Town Hall on the Columbia River Treaty.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Doug Grob to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, while changes are also coming to Oregon representation.

Researchers can now determine the age and sex of living beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet thanks to a new DNA-based technique that uses information from small samples of skin tissue.

The lockdowns and reduced societal activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic affected emissions of pollutants in ways that slightly warmed the planet for several months last year, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

The population of gray whales that migrate along the West Coast has declined about 24 percent since 2016. It now stands at an estimated 20,580 whales, a new population assessment by NOAA Fisheries has found. That is similar to previous fluctuations in the Eastern North Pacific population that has long since recovered from the days of whaling.

With more free time on their hands, a growing interest in securing their own food, coupled with the needs for physical outlets and mental relief as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more Californians turned to fishing and hunting last year.

In an open letter to the governors of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, published this week, a group of scientists well known by those active in Northwest fisheries conservation contend that research overwhelmingly shows that Snake River wild salmon and steelhead populations cannot be recovered without the removal of four dams on the lower river.

Boat traffic within 400 yards of endangered Southern Resident killer whales interrupts their foraging, often leading female whales to cease feeding altogether. That is a key finding from a new analysis of data from suction-cup tags that track the whales’ movement underwater.

Anglers are having some success catching kokanee in Detroit Reservoir lately, thanks in part to the new bonus bag limit of 5 kokanee. But Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is also hearing from anglers that targeting kokanee is resulting in quite a few inadvertently hooked juvenile chinook salmon too.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced this week it has selected John Hairston as administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration. The appointment was effective Jan. 7.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week formally removed most gray wolves in the lower 48 from the Endangered Species List, which turns management over to state fish and wildlife agencies, including Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Washington Department of Ecology has revised four water quality permits to allow sterile, all-female steelhead to be raised in marine net pens, instead of Atlantic salmon.

The Washington Department of Ecology will be holding an informational meeting on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature in the Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers on January 28.

Though the coronavirus pandemic threw our lives off kilter for much of 2020, it didn’t freeze movement of major developments in Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead recovery and other important fish and wildlife issues.

Idaho Fish and Game and University of Idaho researchers began a multi-year moose research project in early 2020. Adult survival so far has been better than expected, but populations are still declining in the long term. They hope more research will provide clues on how to help Idaho’s largest big game animal rebound, or at least, discover what’s causing their decline in Idaho and beyond.

Oregon fishery managers have extended reduced daily bag limits for hatchery steelhead in the Snake River and tributaries, including the Grande Ronde, Wallowa and Imnaha Rivers. The bag limit of two hatchery steelhead per day remains in effect from January 1 to April 30, 2021.

Poop samples are an effective, non-invasive tool for monitoring gray whale reproduction, stress and other physiological responses, a new study from Oregon State University shows.

The Montana and Washington invasive species councils have joined forces to stop wild pigs from crossing borders.

Washington Democratic U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray said this week they voiced their displeasure with the “lack of transparency in the selection process” for head of the Bonneville Power Administration during a Friday call with Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Mark Menezes.

A new survey of Montanans shows positive attitudes toward grizzly bears and support for the presence of grizzly bears within the state, however acceptance of bear presence in areas closer to residential and agricultural areas is lower than in remote public land areas.

Repeated marine heatwaves off the U.S. West Coast starting about 2013 fueled record harmful algal blooms that seeded a region off Northern California and Southern Oregon with toxic algae, a new study has found. That reservoir of harmful algae has, in turn, spread across the West Coast and forced the closure of valuable Dungeness crab and other shellfish seasons every year since 2015.

The iconic sunflower sea star has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature following a groundbreaking population study led by Oregon State University and The Nature Conservancy.

Fishery managers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife this week announced restrictions to sportfishing in rivers throughout the Washington coast to protect wild steelhead populations.

The Oregon Health Authority is issuing recommendations on the amount of resident fish, shellfish and crayfish from the Multnomah Channel and Scappoose Bay that people should eat.

NOAA’s 15th Arctic Report Card catalogs for 2020 the numerous ways that climate change continues to disrupt the polar region, with second-highest air temperatures and second-lowest summer sea ice driving a cascade of impacts, including the loss of snow and extraordinary wildfires in northern Russia.

Washington state announced this week that it has submitted a draft plan for how to distribute $50 million in federal relief funding to members of Washington’s commercial seafood, shellfish and charter industries to NOAA Fisheries or review and approval.

The October, 2020 annual survey of Coeur d’Alene Lake chinook salmon redds showed a strong spawning run, with the second highest count on record.

During the last several weeks, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game became aware of several separate incidents of hunters illegally transporting whole deer carcasses or deer heads into Idaho from states with Chronic Wasting Disease.

The pandemic is putting a hurt on the seafood industry, finds the largest study of COVID on U.S. fisheries, which suggests that American fishmongers may flounder – or go belly up – without more government aid.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have determined that the same strain of bacterial pneumonia that caused a die-off in the Lookout Mountain bighorn sheep herd earlier in the year has spread to the Burnt River herd.

The seventh annual “One River, Ethics Matter” conference will be held during the COVID-19 pandemic by videoconference on December 9 and 10. It will focus on the lower Columbia River estuary and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.

At the Dalles Dam Thursday a thrust hub cooling water pipe broke, spilling up to 200 gallons of oil into the Columbia River. The equipment is part of a fish unit turbine designed to provide attraction water for migrating fish.

Approximately 250 steelhead were stocked in the Boise River on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19. Trapped at Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River, the fish will be released in equal numbers at five locations: Glenwood Bridge, Americana Bridge, below the Broadway Avenue Bridge behind Boise State University, at West Parkcenter Bridge and at Barber Park.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a public hearing via a telephonic Zoom platform on Dec. 1, at 10 a.m., to consider a new rule pertaining to banning the use of remote-controlled devices and drones while fishing.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon are seeking nominations for advisors to fill positions on advisory committees that provide input on recreational and commercial fishing issues on the Columbia and Snake rivers.