1. STEELHEAD AGREEMENT REACHED, TRIBES OPEN FISHERY Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Tribal fishers wetted their nets Tuesday in their annual pursuit of what has become the last viable commercial Indian fishery on the Columbia River. The Columbia River Compact on Friday (Aug. 21) endorsed a tribal plan that opens Region 6 (between Bonneville and McNary dams) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 25-29 and Sept. 1-5. Primary targets will be upriver brights or fall chinook headed for the Hanford Reach. The Compact decision came three days later than expected because ... Read More...

2. KITZHABER, LOCKE URGE VETO OF CURRENT INTERIOR Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A fear of "significant and far reaching impacts on the environment and economy of the Pacific Northwest" has prompted the governors of Oregon and Washington to urge a presidential veto of the 1999 Interior Appropriations Bill as now written. Gov. Gary Locke of Washington and Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon expressed their concern in an Aug. 19 letter to President Bill Clinton. They referred to House and Senate riders that would "alter the way the Interior Columbia Basin ... Read More...

3. CORPS SAYS WATER TEMP STORIES INACCURATE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Fish mortality at McNary Dam this summer could not have been reduced by switching from barging to spill during periods of high water temperatures, says an "information alert" distributed to the media last week by the Army Corps of Engineers' Portland office. "The water temperature issue has not been portrayed accurately," said the two-page report titled "The Untold Story Behind the Headlines." The Corps said it was responding to inaccurate newspaper ... Read More...

4. FULL TRANSPORT IN SUMMER OK WITH ISAB Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Transporting by barge and truck as many summer salmon migrants as possible is consistent with the Independent Scientific Advisory Board's recommendations on transportation issued earlier this year, the National Marine Fisheries Service said last week in letter to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. In March, the ISAB, which advises NMFS and the Northwest Power Planning Council, recommended a "1998 management approach that divides juvenile emigrants throughout the ... Read More...

5. JOHN DAY SCREEN PROJECT STILL ALIVE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A mechanical smolt bypass project written off by an independent scientific panel still has the strong backing of major players in Columbia River salmon restoration efforts. Earlier this summer, a proposal to install extended length bar screens at John Day Dam seemed doomed. However, an Army of Corps of Engineers proposal for continued testing of new designs is being considered by a state-federal technical panel which ranks projects for funding. In a June report, the Independent ... Read More...

6. PROCEDURES DEVELOPED FOR MULTI-SPECIES PLAN Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A policy alternatives work group brainstormed on procedural issues while staff continued shaping a scientific work plan this past week in coordinated efforts to develop a multi-species framework to guide Columbia Basin fish and wildlife management. "Things are really starting to roll," according to Peter Paquet, a Northwest Power Planning Council staff scientist and member of a science steering group that has helped create the groundwork for the project. Funding for the ... Read More...

7. REGIONAL HEARINGS SLATED ON SALMON MANAGEMENT Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Congressional hearings next week in Eastern Washington and Idaho will discuss legislation to transfer management of endangered salmon and steelhead from the National Marine Fisheries Service to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Endangered Species Consolidation Act (H.R. 4335) is co-authored by Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, and Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Resources Committee. The Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service has jurisdiction over ... Read More...

8. COUNTIES DISCUSS DAM BREACHING WITH LOCKE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

County commissioners representing 13 Eastern Washington counties visited Washington Gov. Gary Locke on Aug. 21 to ask him to publicly oppose dam breaching and drawdown. "We are asking you to declare unequivocally to the Clinton Administration that dam removal and deep-river draw downs are unacceptable options for addressing declining salmon runs," Benton County Commissioner Max Benitz, Jr. told the governor. "Modifications to the dams can be made to improve fish ... Read More...

9. THREE SOVEREIGNS GETS NEW NAME, REVISED MOA Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Staff for the Three Sovereigns process last week finally sent to governors, tribal leaders and the Clinton Administration a Memorandum of Agreement intended to better focus Columbia River governance. The Three Sovereigns process was launched a little more than a year ago with the goal of improving fish and wildlife management in the basin. Attempts to gain consensus on a memorandum of agreement to direct state, federal and tribal energies have languished in the draft stage. The latest Read More...

10. TULE TRAPPING TO PROTECT TRIBAL FISHERY Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Federal and state salmon managers have requested special operations at Bonneville Dam starting Sept. 1 to facilitate collection of "tule" fall chinook spawners for the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery. Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have agreed to cooperate. The tule fall chinook trapping program would "help achieve several conflicting management objectives," according to a System Operational Request (SOR) submitted to the ... Read More...

11. BUREAU MULLS MILLION ACRE FEET FLOW AUGMENTATION Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A decision to funnel an additional 1 million acre feet of water out of the Snake River Basin would, if that scenario ever came to pass, have to be accompanied by decisions about who exactly would feel the most pain. "It became obvious very early. There isn't a pain-free course," said Rich Rigby, activity manager for the Bureau of Reclamation's "1 Million Acre Feet" study. He was asked to give an update on the study, now in midstream, to the Northwest Power ... Read More...

12. TROUT UNLIMITED ENDORSES DAM BREACHING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Trout Unlimited, the world's largest trout and salmon conservation group, has endorsed breaching of the four dams on the lower Snake River as the best way to recover endangered Snake River wild salmon and steelhead. "The earthen portion of the four lower Snake River dams must be removed and natural river channel restored, and appropriate mitigation be implemented to minimize the effects to the region" says the resolution adopted by Trout Unlimited's National Resource Board ... Read More...

13. PEREGRINE FALCON TO BE REMOVED FROM ESA LIST Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt announced this week that the peregrine falcon is expected to be removed from the endangered species list. "Every American should be proud," Babbitt said. "In 25 years, the people of the United States have rescued this awesome raptor from the brink of extinction. We have proved that a strong Endangered Species Act can make a difference. We don't have to stand idly by and watch our wildlife go extinct. We can bring species back. We have ... Read More...

14. JUVENILE WILD FALL CHINOOK SHOW INCREASE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

This year's run of juvenile Snake River fall chinook looks good, according to National Marine Fisheries Service fisheries biologist Paul Wagner. "Assuming the ocean is friendly, things could go well," Wagner said. The fish passage index for wild fall chinook subyearlings at Lower Granite Dam was five times as high as expected, according to cumulative data from the Columbia River Fish Passage Center. The fish passage index, however, is not a measurement of actual ... Read More...

15. USFWS TAKES COMMENT ON LYNX LISTING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold four public hearings in the Columbia Basin next month to receive public comments on its proposal to list the Canada lynx as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal to list the lynx is part of a legal settlement between USFWS and 15 non-governmental organizations. USFWS says the reasons for the lynx's decline include loss of habitat, over-trapping, increased human access to suitable habitat and human-induced changes in ... Read More...

16. LOWER GRANITE SUMMER FLOW TARGETS MET Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Army Corps of Engineers said this week that it will meet "the region's summer flow objective for aiding juvenile fish migration in the lower Snake River." River operators, however, were unable to achieve flow targets at McNary Dam set by the National Marine Fisheries Service 1995 Biological Opinion for wild Snake River salmon. Flows in the Columbia and Snake Rivers are augmented with additional releases of stored water from upstream dams during the spring and ... Read More...

17. QUESTIONS REMAIN ON FISH PROJECT FUNDING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A number of questions still loom with less a month to go before final funding recommendations are due from the Northwest Power Planning Council for proposed 1999 Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife projects. The Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee and staff have spent much of the summer discussing "issues" related to the fiscal 1999 Draft Annual Implementation Work Plan and the Independent Scientific Review Panel's critique of that work plan. Most recently the Council's Read More...