1. CORPS RECOMMENDS COLUMBIA CHANNEL DEEPENING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week recommended deepening 105 miles of the Columbia River channel to accommodate the needs of commercial shipping, but to defer deepening ten miles of the lower Willamette River channel until toxins are removed. The Corps is recommending deepening the channel between Portland and Astoria from its 40-foot depth to a depth of 43 feet to accommodate larger, deep-draft ships. The Corps on Aug. 17 released its draft Integrated Feasibility Report for ... Read More...

2. TRIBAL, COMMERCIAL SALMON SEASONS SET Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Columbia River Compact Tuesday approved a non-Indian 2S salmon fishery that spans a 10-hour period from 8 p.m. Aug. 23 until 6 a.m. Aug. 24 as well as two tribal fishing periods. The Compact left open the possibility that the 2S fishery could be reopened Aug. 25 if the catch during the initial 10-hour period fell short of the proposal's harvest target. The 2S fishery is below Bonneville Dam from Beacon Rock to Light 50. Dennis Austin of the Washington Department of Fish and ... Read More...

3. IDAHO BROODSTOCK PROGRAM YIELDS RETURNS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Since 1991, only 17 sockeye salmon had made the trip home from the Pacific Ocean to spawn near the headwaters of the Salmon River in Idaho's Stanley Basin. That two-a-year average could swell this year with two fish already completing their journey. They now await their spawning fate at central Idaho's Sawtooth Hatchery. At least 21 others are still trying to negotiate the final 430-mile leg of their migration. The two sockeye that returned to the Sawtooth Hatchery weir over the past ... Read More...

4. COUNCIL PROCEEDS WITH NEW PROJECT PROCESS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Northwest Power Planning Council Aug. 11 gave its staff the OK to proceed with a plan that attempts to sort out disagreements between fish and wildlife managers and a scientific panel on fiscal year 2000 funding priorities for Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife restoration projects. The outline presented at the Council's meeting in Helena, Mont., would also potentially serve as a transition to a new process for deciding how and where fish and wildlife program funds are ... Read More...

5. NWPPC PONDERS PROJECT PROCEDURAL SHIFT Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A proposal to reconstruct the Northwest Power Planning Council's direct fish and wildlife program project selection process with independent scientists in the lead has resource managers nervous about their potential roles. Council staff on Aug. 10-11 presented for discussion of a vision of "where the Council's fish and wildlife program may be within the next two years." The "Desired End State" paper would line up the process with Independent Scientific Review Panel desires --project ... Read More...

6. BPA LAUNCHES RATE PROPOSAL Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Aug. 13 publication of the Bonneville Power Administration's 2002-2006 rate proposal intensifies the debate over what the federal agency can do for its power customers, and what it can do to fuel Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife recovery. Average rates would remain at the current level under the proposal, according a BPA press release. "By reducing the costs and by avoiding large purchases of new power supplies, BPA plans to hold the line on wholesale power rates," said ... Read More...

7. TMT: DWORSHAK, MCNARY, FALL FLOWS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Technical Management Team this week decided to delay a test at McNary Dam that, if it works, could offer insight into achieving cooler water temperatures. The TMT also decided to begin ramping down outflows at Dworshak Dam. In the process, TMT members acknowledged that river operations decisions after Aug. 31 will have less to do with endangered species survival and more to do with other uses, such as power generation, as the National Marine Fisheries Service biological opinion season Read More...

8. EPA SUED OVER POTLATCH WATER DISCHARGES Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Three conservation groups that say warm water discharges from a Potlatch Corp. pulp and paper mill near Lewiston, Idaho, harm fish and are unlawful are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force changes in Potlatchs Clean Water Act permit. The lawsuit brought against the EPA on Aug. 9 seeks to force the agency to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife about the effects of Potlatchs warm water discharges on endangered salmon, ... Read More...

9. EPA REJECTS TEMP LIMIT FOR WILLAMETTE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A 68-degree temperature limit proposed for the lower Willamette River by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality was deemed too warm for endangered salmon and steelhead by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. DEQ, which proposed the limit in a package of water quality standards to the EPA, is required by the federal Clean Water Act to file the standards with EPA to ensure state standards will meet federal law and will adequately protect water bodies in the state for fish, ... Read More...

10. LYNX LISTING COMMENT PERIOD REOPENED Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A hoped-for report on the status of Canada lynx, and the threats to their survival, is yet to arrive in toto, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to forge ahead with its process for proposing the shy animal for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The USFWS announced July 8 that that it would delay for six months its decision on whether to list the forest-dwelling cat. The federal ESA allows a delay in making listing determinations when there is ... Read More...

100 N. Park Ave., Suite 320 Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Helena, Mont. 59601 Phone: 406-449-5225 e-mail: lynx@fws.gov "We have a big deadline under the Endangered Species Act" to make a listing decision by Jan. 8, Nordstrom. The agency would have like to await completion of the report before opening the 30-day public comment period but must get on with its work. "They won't give us a deadline as to when they will have it done," Nordstrom. She said she needs to prepare a draft proposal by mid-October. It will then go through an agency ... Read More...

11. LEADERS CALL FOR UNIFIED FISH PLAN Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Two high-profile regional leaders, one elected and the other appointed, took the podium Aug. 11 in Helena, Mont., to urge the Northwest Power Planning Council to take a leadership role to ensure that region retains the benefits it now derives from the Columbia River. Montana Gov. Marc Racicot said the four Northwest governors whose representatives sit on the NWPPC want to "ensure the equitable distribution of the Basin's benefits" and a "fair and balanced sharing of the burden" of fish and Read More...

12. PEREGRINES DROP FROM ESA LIST Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The world's fastest bird soared off of the Endangered Species list today (Aug. 20) with the announcement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's delisting decision. "It's a spectacular summer for America's great birds, the bald eagle, the Aleutian Canada goose and today the peregrine falcon," said the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt. The peregrine falcon also joins the southeastern population of the brown pelican, the American alligator, the Rydberg milk-vetch, and the gray ... Read More...

13. FEEDBACK Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

, attorney: Your article "NMFS' MATRIX NEW ANALYTICAL TOOL" (Aug. 6) contains at least two misleading statements. Mr. Paulsen says: "A lot of this is mandated by legislation and court orders." I would challenge anyone to identify any such legislation or court orders. The only court order I know of, which is referred to by Mr. Weber, entered by Judge Marsh in 1994, was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. No statute or court order drives any of the "1999 ... Read More...