1. TRIBES AGREE TO REDUCE STEELHEAD HARVEST Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The National Marine Fisheries Service and Columbia River tribes with treaty fishing rights have reached a tentative, one-year agreement that will reduce the "incidental take" of wild Snake River steelhead during the tribes' fall fishery above Bonneville Dam. Fisheries managers for Oregon, Washington and Idaho describe the interim tribal harvest rate as a "significant reduction." "We still have concerns, but we are moving in the right ... Read More...

2. FRAMEWORK EFFORT GETS $894,000 FOR FIRST PHASE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Development of a "framework" that could lead to a regional, multi-species fish and wildlife recovery plan was given a boost Thursday when the Bonneville Power Administration agreed to provide $894,000 for the project's first phase. "Most of the issues we were concerned with were taken care of" and discussions are continuing on other unresolved issue, Bob Lohn, BPA's manager, fish and wildlife, said. "It made the most sense to move forward with the ... Read More...

3. ISAB: STOP STRANDING HANFORD REACH FRY Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

To reduce juvenile salmon mortality from stranding-or power peaking-the Bonneville Power Administration and mid-Columbia Public Utility Districts should maintain stable flows out of Priest Rapids Dam during the period when Hanford Reach fall chinook emerge as fry, says the Independent Scientific Advisory Board in an August 3 report. But BPA officials say many questions need to be addressed before they would agree to a flow regime that could cost ratepayers and PUDs millions of ... Read More...

4. NEW BPA ADMINISTRATOR WANTS UNIFIED RECOVERY PLAN Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

For fish and wildlife recovery to succeed, the region needs to "bring together in one place the accountability" for mitigation programs, says Judi Johansen, the new administrator for the Bonneville Power Administration. Not coincidentally, the power marketing agency also funds a huge percentage those recovery efforts. Johansen made her remarks Wednesday to the Northwest Power Planning Council, which makes the final recommendations annually on how $127 million in BPA funds Read More...

5. BODI GOES TO BONNEVILLE ON SEPT. 1 Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

On Sept. 1, Lorraine Bodi, a well-known Northwest environmentalist, will become a senior executive for the Bonneville Power Administration, advising the administrator on fish and wildlife issues. "I will work for a greater resolution of the fish issues as we head into 1999," said Bodi, co-director of the Northwest office of American Rivers. "My goal is to create a fish plan that is credible and affordable for BPA," she said. "The plan must have regional ... Read More...

6. IDAHO STUDY SAYS FLOW AUG DOESN'T WORK Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Taking water away from farmers does little to improve the fortunes of migrating Snake and Columbia River juvenile salmon. That's the message Karl Dreher, director of Idaho's Department of Water Resources, carried to the Northwest Power Planning Council. Dreher on Wednesday provided a summation of his department's report, "Competing for the Mighty Columbia River-Past, Present and Future: The Role of Interstate Allocation. A View on Idaho's Experience with ... Read More...

7. SAVEN CALLS FOR MORE AGGRESSIVE POWER COUNCIL Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A trio of panelists offered differing views Wednesday on how the Northwest Power Planning Council should respond to regional fish and wildlife and energy issues. Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Jamie Pinkham of the Nez Perce Tribe and John Saven of the Northwest Irrigation Utilities were invited to comment on the discussion paper, "The Role of the Northwest Power Planning Council." Specifically, the three expressed their opinions on how the ... Read More...

8. HOUSE MEMBERS STUMP FOR CORPS' FISH BUDGET Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Twelve Northwest members of the House of Representatives are asking their congressional colleagues to reconsider a proposal to eliminate funding for the Army Corps of Engineers' Columbia River Juvenile Fish Mitigation Program. A July 29 letter crafted by Rep. Bob Smith, R-Oregon, proposes new report language that would accompany the Corps' budget. The House enters into a conference committee with the Senate next month. "The Conference Committee shares the House of ... Read More...

9. NEZ PERCE GET NOD FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Nez Perce "conservation" law enforcement efforts could get up to $57,000 this late summer and fall if other agencies agree to a Northwest Power Planning Council recommendation allowing the use of funds originally allocated for fish and wildlife programs. Si Whitman, the Nez Perce Tribes director of fish and wildlife, approached the Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee with the proposal Tuesday, saying the money was needed to meet payroll demands through the end of the ... Read More...

10. FUTURE FISH COSTS WILL BE 'RANGE OF UNCERTAINTY' Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Bonneville Power Administration is prepared to offer a range of potential Fish and Wildlife Program costs, instead of a specific number, when it presents its rate case for the period 2002 to 2006. BPA has been assembling what its describes as planning assumptions-estimated costs that drive its rate requirements-in preparation for a mid-September presentation to the Administration, according to Bob Lohn, BPA manager's for fish and wildlife. The unsettled direction of the region's Read More...

11. BONNEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION LAUNCHED Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Dams in Washington and Idaho and a wind-power project in Wyoming have been selected as the first "environmentally preferred" resources for the new and novel Bonneville Environmental Foundation, according to organizers. The foundation was formed this summer as a collaboration between the Bonneville Power Administration, the Renewable Northwest Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Northwest Energy Coalition. The independent, non-profit charitable ... Read More...

12. PROCESS BEGINS FOR SELECTING NEW ISAB MEMBERS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A request for nominations is expected to be sent out this week with the goal of filling four anticipated vacancies on the 11-member Independent Scientific Advisory Board. The final choices, this time around, could well be made with the direct tribal involvement, according to Peter Paquet, the Northwest Power Planning Council's manager for wildlife and resident fish. He and Chip McConnaha, the Council's manager for program analysis and evaluation, updated the Council Tuesday on ... Read More...

13. BULL TROUT RECOVERY MAY START IN GLACIER Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

It's been just a blink in history and a short swim in time for non-native fish to overwhelm native cutthroat and bull trout throughout the Flathead River system. That includes Glacier National Park's most prominent lake, Lake McDonald, which may be the best place to begin a bull trout recovery effort, said Wade Fredenberg, a federal fisheries biologist who will be heavily involved with bull trout recovery in western Montana. Fredenberg says a serious effort to rid Lake McDonald ... Read More...

14. USFWS MULLS BULL TROUT RECOVERY FUNDING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Financing a bull trout recovery effort on Glacier's Lake McDonald may be tricky, but U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Wade Fredenberg says there are many potential funding avenues, including the Bonneville Power Administration. Fredenberg believes that Lake McDonald is the place to start a recovery effort in western Montana, since Glacier National Park and his agency have like-minded mandates to restore native fisheries. Ridding the lake of invasive lake trout, the bull ... Read More...

15. CORPS TRANSPORTING FROM MCNARY DAILY Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Army Corps of Engineers is now transporting fish daily from McNary Dam, rather than every other day. The change comes partly in response to concerns that warm water temperatures were contributing to an increase in mortality of fish in McNary's forebay and the collection/holding facilities. "We'd rather err on the side of doing what we can to address the mortality issue," said Doug Arndt of the Corps. Previously, fish were transported every other day, which required ... Read More...

16. KREIDLER LEAVES POWER COUNCIL POST Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Mike Kreidler, a Washington member of the Northwest Power Planning Council since January 1995, began his new job this month as the regional director for Region 10 of the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services. Kreidler, a former state legislator and congressman, has been replaced by Larry Cassidy of Vancouver, who attended his first Council meeting as a voting member this week. In looking back on his nearly three years as a Council member, Kreidler counts as a major ... Read More...