1. RULING HALTS EFFORTS TO RELOCATE SALMON-EATING TERNS Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein on Tuesday delivered a "legal slam dunk" in favor of bird advocates with a ruling that, for all intents and purposes, ends an effort to manipulate Caspian tern and cormorant populations to reduce their consumption of salmon in the Columbia River Estuary. Read More...

2. BETTER STREAM FLOWS HAS BPA INCREASING SPILL Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

Citing better than expected stream flows, but an uncertain financial position, the Bonneville Power Administration proposed this week to increase spill at two federal dams. As a result of the proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased spill Wednesday at The Dalles Dam to 40 percent of river flow for 24 hours and to 24-hour spill of 50,000 cubic feet per second at Bonneville Dam beginning Thursday evening. Read More...

3. YAKAMA NATION, PACIFICORP SEEK GRANT PUD DAMS Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

Two unlikely partners announced they will team up to attempt a takeover of two mid-Columbia dams when the dams' license expires in 2005. The Yakama Nation and PacifiCorp, a division of Scottish Power, will compete in the licensing process to secure Grant County Public Utility District's Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams. Read More...

4. BPA HABITAT FUNDING: ESA OR POWER ACT? Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

The agency caught in the middle -- the Bonneville Power Administration -- fielded questions Wednesday about how it might mete out "off-site mitigation" fish and wildlife recovery funding as the lines blur between federal Endangered Species Act mandates and those under the Northwest Power Act. Read More...

5. RIVER OPERATORS EXPLAIN DRAFT RECOVERY PLAN Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

Three federal hydroelectric operating agencies released for public comment their long-anticipated plan on how they will operate the hydro system and what they will do in the other "H's" -- hatcheries, harvest and habitat -- to aid salmon recovery. Read More...

6. CBFWA RECOMMENDS $55-$81 MILLION IN PLATEAU PROJECTS Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 (PST)

The Columbia Basin's fish and wildlife managers have recommended that at least $55 million, and as much as $81 million, be spent next year on projects in the vast region now described as the Columbia Plateau province. Read More...