http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/default.aspxFree NewsletterFri, 16 May 2008 14:12:02 GMTSmartSolutions.Impact, Version=2.5.1383.19310, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=nullhttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/lunarlogo.gifhttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275112.aspxFederal, state and tribal officials have yet to prioritize which research and construction projects will be funded in the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Columbia River Fish Mitigation program, but they'll have to fit their choices around construction of a second spillwall below The Dalles Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275112.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:12:02 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275111.aspxThe death of six marine mammals found May 4 in two closed floating traps below the Columbia's Bonneville Dam was likely caused by overheating, according to the findings of a necropsy performed on each of the animals. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275111.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:10:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275110.aspxWith the prospect of breaching newly established Endangered Species Act "incidental take" limits, the states of Oregon and Washington and treaty tribes have all but ended, for now, Columbia River mainstem fish harvest activity. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275110.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:09:34 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275109.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday decided, in some corners begrudgingly, to give a long-running John Day River subbasin habitat project another chance to prove the work is improving the health of salmon and steelhead stocks. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275109.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:07:30 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275108.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week recommended $247,465 in within-year funding adjustments for eight fish and wildlife projects, as well as a $464,000, two-year spending package to implement the Colville Tribes' Lake Rufus Woods creel survey and stocking proposal in central Washington. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275108.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:06:18 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275107.aspxThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Seattle District emergency management personnel are monitoring river conditions in Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana in advance of the predicted warm temperatures. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275107.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:04:57 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275106.aspxThe Washington Department of Ecology has released a draft supplemental environmental impact statement that analyzes options for additional allocations of water currently stored behind Grand Coulee Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275106.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:03:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275105.aspxThis past month was the coolest April in 11 years for the lower 48 United States, and fell into the lowest twenty-five percent of all Aprils based on records going back to 1895, according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275105.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:02:31 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275104.aspx2007 was a record year for gains in electric power efficiency in the Pacific Northwest, says the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275104.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 14:01:12 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275103.aspxCBB Shorts: Koocanusa Refill; Bureau's New Regional Deputy Director; Oregon Conservation Grants; Washington's Healthy Watersheds Guide http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275103.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 13:53:23 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275102.aspx--- From Bill McMillan, Concrete, WA: To the editor of the Columbia Basin Bulletin: Today (May 9) I read your online Columbia Basin Bulletin about the Sea Lion Mystery and noted what is a common error regarding the historic distribution of seals and sea lions in the Columbia River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/275102.aspxFri, 16 May 2008 13:50:32 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273912.aspxShooting, apparently, did not bring the end for six sea lions found dead late Sunday morning in two closed, floating traps stationed below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273912.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 20:04:27 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273911.aspxA three-pronged federal strategy announced this week to lift beleaguered salmon and steelhead stocks onto a recovery trajectory has already begun to draw some heat. Targeted particularly is the leg that addresses hydro system impacts on the Columbia/Snake river basin fish. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273911.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 20:01:37 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273910.aspxFour Columbia River basin tribes and three federal agencies say years of divisiveness over salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin ended May 2 with the signing of agreements designed to deliver specific, scientifically valid biological benefits for the region's fish. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273910.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:59:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273909.aspxThe federal government's combination of "biological opinions" to govern the recovery of 13 listed salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin includes for the first time the state of Montana's desired dam operations. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273909.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:58:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273908.aspxAn upriver spring chinook salmon spawning run that has proceeded in fits and starts up the Columbia and Snake rivers is almost certainly late and smaller in number than had been predicted in preseason, according to fishery officials. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273908.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:57:17 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273907.aspxA cooler and drier than normal April and early May has kept, for the most part, the Columbia River basin's water supply bottled up in mountain snowpack, but forecasters say the region will eventually be blessed with an average spring-summer outpouring. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273907.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:55:42 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273906.aspxA three-meeting tug-o-war was settled over the past week by Mother Nature, which released enough water from mountain snowpacks to keep Lake Roosevelt ferry boats afloat and boost Columbia River flows carrying juvenile salmon and steelhead toward the Pacific Ocean. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273906.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:54:07 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273903.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking public comments on the seventh annual report to the Northwest governors on Bonneville Power Administration expenditures to implement the Council's program to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273903.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:52:49 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273901.aspxWater releases from central Idaho's Dworshak Dam were ratcheted down to some degree Wednesday evening as fish and hydro system managers tried to strike a balance between providing flow augmentation now for migrating juvenile steelhead and salmon and assuring a maximum store of water to help returning adult fish this summer. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273901.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:51:33 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273900.aspxThe Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program kicked off this week in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers and is open through Sept. 28. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273900.aspxFri, 09 May 2008 19:50:07 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273132.aspxNOAA's Fisheries Service released today three interwoven "biological opinions" that represent what the agency says is the most comprehensive strategy yet developed to protect listed 13 Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead species and lift them toward recovery. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/273132.aspxMon, 05 May 2008 22:11:28 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272938.aspxWith the "backbone of the West Coast salmon industry" broken, the federal government declared a commercial fishery failure on Thursday, which opens the door for Congress to appropriate money to alleviate predicted financial hardships. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272938.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:51:52 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272937.aspxFederal scientists believe that natural forces -- unfavorable ocean conditions -- were the most influential factors in the infamous collapse of Sacramento fall chinook salmon fortunes last year, and the record low return forecast this year. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272937.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:49:32 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272936.aspxA California sea lion captured Monday as part of a state effort to remove the animals from below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam died the next day during a health examination at a Tacoma zoo. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272936.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:48:24 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272935.aspxHabitat improvements charted under a new memorandum of agreement between federal agencies and tribes could more than double, in a few cases, the survival of protected salmon and steelhead from the egg to smolt stage, according to biological analysis produced by the Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272935.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:47:17 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272934.aspxLagging counts at Bonneville Dam's fish ladders have prompted fishery officials to scale back estimates of how many upriver spring chinook salmon will return to the mouth of the Columbia River this year. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272934.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:45:33 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272933.aspxA newly proposed fish consumption rate for Oregon is intended to better protect the health of those who eat fish, particularly Native Americans, and improve the water quality of streams and rivers. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272933.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:44:21 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272932.aspxBull trout should retain their "threatened" status under the Endangered Species Act and there should be distinctions established between populations across the Northwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272932.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:43:06 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272931.aspxStarting this spring, a 290-foot water slide will aid Columbia River salmon smolts on their journey towards the Pacific Ocean. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272931.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:41:57 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272929.aspxThe National Weather Service is projecting that there will be flooding in western Montana because of a stubborn mountain snowpack. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272929.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:40:27 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272927.aspxAs promised, a coalition of wildlife conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday challenging the decision to remove wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272927.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:39:21 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272926.aspxPacific Power, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the Bonneville Power Administration this week announced a regional effort to further improve the efficiency of electricity use throughout the Pacific Northwest. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272926.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:37:58 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272925.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week it will begin a status review to determine whether the western sage-grouse qualifies for protection under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272925.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:36:30 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272924.aspxCBB Shorts: Oregon Environment Awards; Hells Canyon Bighorn Sheep; Canada Lynx; Tribal Wildlife Grants; Oregon Water Projects http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272924.aspxFri, 02 May 2008 19:34:20 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272139.aspxWith legal battles looming in the background, the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife on Thursday launched efforts to trap and remove California sea lions that have made a habit of feasting on spawning salmon in the turbulent waters below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272139.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:54:58 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272138.aspxThe pinniped dynamics appear to have changed a bit this spring with Steller sea lions an ever-growing presence, though California sea lions remain ever relentless in their pursuit of spawning salmon in the tailrace of the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam, according to preliminary data compiled by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers researchers. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272138.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:53:49 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272137.aspxFour draft memorandums of agreement announced this month that pledge nearly $1 billion in Columbia River basin fish and wildlife funding over the next 10 years have drawn some praise, much criticism and threats of continued, rather than reduced, litigation in the region. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272137.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:52:56 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272136.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to take a longer look at how degraded Columbia River estuary and nearshore habitat has affected the status of ocean-going southwest Washington-Columbia River coastal cutthroat trout, according to a "memorandum" issued April 18 by a federal appellate panel. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272136.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:51:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272135.aspxEvery year, eight metric tons of fish don’t make it through the gauntlet of northern pike that inhabit the slow-moving waters of Montana's Flathead River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272135.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:50:36 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272134.aspxGill-netters will get an extra, though small opportunity to pursue spring chinook salmon in lower Columbia off-channel "select" areas while mainstem fishers, both sport and commercial, stay ashore hoping that the numbers of upriver spawners start to soar. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272134.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:49:30 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272133.aspxState of Montana and federal officials today announced a $37 million settlement of litigation with Atlantic Richfield Co. and ASARCO LLC to remove the aging Mike Horse Dam and the contaminated tailings behind it, and to clean up and restore the Upper Blackfoot River and Mining Complex. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272133.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:48:05 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272132.aspxJust 10 days before a new Federal Columbia River Power system "biological opinion" is scheduled to spring to life, a federal appeals court panel has declared its predecessor officially dead, again. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272132.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:47:02 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272131.aspxOregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire have sent a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking Congress to begin working on securing emergency appropriations for ocean salmon fishermen and related businesses that will be affected by the expected closure of much of the West Coast commercial and recreational ocean salmon fishing season. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272131.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:45:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272130.aspxThe Northwest now has an early-warning system for potential electricity shortages and high prices to consumers. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272130.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:44:27 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272129.aspxCBB SHORTS: BEF’s New Model Watershed; Wild Salmon Hall of Fame; Lake Ozette Sockeye Recovery; Hells Canyon Spring Chinook Fishing; Science Review of Spotted Owl Plan; Expanding Hatfield Marine Science Center; Western Forests Susceptible to Bark Beetle Outbreak; Clearinghouse For Elwha Dam Removal Info; Corps Meetings On Stream Mitigation http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/272129.aspxFri, 25 Apr 2008 20:43:17 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270894.aspxA federal judge on Wednesday denied an attempt to block the planned removal, by lethal means or otherwise, of California sea lions feasting on protected salmon in the waters below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270894.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:32:43 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270892.aspxMotivated by ongoing litigation, two Washington congressmen have stepped up their effort to streamline Marine Mammal Protection Act processes for allowing the removal of sea lions that prey on federally protected salmon runs. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270892.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:31:34 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270891.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week began discussing how it will handle a flood of recommendations for amending its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270891.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:30:31 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270890.aspxGreater than anticipated success and effort by sport anglers has resulted in early closure -- at the end of the day Sunday -- of the sport fishing season for spring chinook salmon on the Columbia River mainstem between Portland and Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270890.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:29:34 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270889.aspxScientists from tribal governments and Oregon State University have developed new guidelines for evaluating health risks stemming from contamination of native lands. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270889.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:28:14 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270887.aspxThe Oregon Water Resources Department this week signed a $750,000 contract with an Oregon-based consortium led by IRZ Consulting, GSI Water Solutions, and HDR Engineering to evaluate the feasibility of a "Umatilla Basin Aquifer Recovery Project." http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270887.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:27:01 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270884.aspxThe Independent Scientific Review Panel last week completed on two projects proposed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation that are earmarked for funding in a recently announced draft memorandum of understanding between the tribe and federal agencies. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270884.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:25:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270883.aspxThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved a new long-term license for Grant PUD's continued ownership and operation of the Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams on the Columbia River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270883.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:23:59 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270882.aspxThe Seattle District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made a report available this week on follow-up actions taken in response to lessons learned from 2006 spring flood event at Libby Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270882.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:22:53 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270881.aspxCBB SHORTS: NOAA March Climate Report; Idaho Spring Salmon Season; Limiting Lake Billy Chinook Kokanee; Reintroducing Salmon to Upper Klamath; NOAA's New Marine Sanctuary Website http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/270881.aspxFri, 18 Apr 2008 20:21:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269977.aspxThe Bonneville Power Administration this week announced draft agreements with four Columbia River basin tribes, and the states of Idaho and Montana, that would guarantee $980.5 million in funding for fish and wildlife projects over the next 10 years in exchange for support of the federal hydro system salmon recovery strategy. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269977.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 21:00:15 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269976.aspxA total of nearly $1 billion in fish and wildlife project funding promises either moves toward a more unified and successful Columbia River basin salmon restoration effort, or, depending on the perspective, attempts to dodge biological and legal truths. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269976.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:58:41 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269975.aspxThe Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday adopted the most restrictive salmon fisheries in the history for the West Coast, in response to the unprecedented collapse of Sacramento River fall chinook and the exceptionally poor status of coho salmon from Oregon and Washington. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269975.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:57:08 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269973.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council and staff, and parties interested in commenting, are set to pore through an avalanche of materials submitted as recommended amendments to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269973.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:55:03 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269972.aspxBlame for declining runs of Pacific Northwest salmon has been cast broadly: habitat loss from logging and development, an abundance of predatory sea lions, power-generating dams, terns and other coastal birds that prey on juvenile fish, and over-fishing by commercial and sport fishermen. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269972.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:53:37 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269971.aspxAny trapping and removal of California sea lions feeding on salmon below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam will be postponed while a tightly scheduled legal fight is waged in Portland's U.S. District Court. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269971.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:50:31 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269967.aspxA total of 35,000 cracker shells, rubber bullets and seal bombs were fired off last year in what was a doubling of the effort to discourage sea lion predation on salmon and steelhead below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269967.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:48:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269965.aspxCommercial fishermen and scientists from Oregon, California and Washington have agreed to collaborate on a critical coast-wide study to learn more about salmon distribution, migration and behavior in the Pacific Ocean, but an alarming projected shortage of fish this year is putting their research in jeopardy. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269965.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:47:46 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269960.aspxIt'll be late in coming, but its looks like the mountains that dot the Columbia River basin landscape will deliver an "average" water supply of water for the region's fish, drinkers, irrigators, hydro producers and others. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269960.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:46:13 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269958.aspxFor at least the fourth year in a row, passage of the upriver spring chinook salmon run at Bonneville Dam appears to be behind its historic schedule. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269958.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:44:44 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269957.aspxThe Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project has announced the appointment of Frank L. "Larry" Cassidy Jr. as chair of its management board, which governs all aspects of the scientific endeavor to track marine animal movement up and down the West Coast. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269957.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:43:34 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269956.aspxThe U.S. Senate Thursday approved four Oregon water projects and a provision aimed at preserving the heritage of areas surrounding the lower Columbia River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269956.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:42:22 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269955.aspxThe Alaska Department of Fish and Game has announced that under the guidelines of the abundance-based management system of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, this year's all gear southeast Alaska chinook salmon harvest quota is 170,000 fish -- a decrease of 159,400 fish from last year's quota, and the lowest catch level since 2000. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/269955.aspxFri, 11 Apr 2008 20:41:19 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268496.aspxAn agreement submitted this week in federal court would postpone planned actions to kill California sea lions feeding on migrating salmon below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam but allow the marine mammals' capture and transfer to zoos and aquariums across the country. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268496.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:53:00 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268495.aspxMore spring chinook salmon are beginning to show up at the lower Columbia's Bonneville Dam and, right on cue, the numbers of predatory California sea lions present below the hydro project are growing as well. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268495.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:51:11 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268493.aspxBeleaguered non-tribal commercial fishers on the lower Columbia River received some good news this week with the assessment that the so-called "tangle" nets used in spring chinook salmon harvests in recent years cause less mortality than previously believed. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268493.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:50:04 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268492.aspxDid Congress intend that hatchery-reared salmon and steelhead be treated -- during consideration of a stock's need for federal protections -- as equals to kin spawned in Columbia River basin rivers and streams? http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268492.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:47:42 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268491.aspxExperts say in a new federal report that progress is being made nationally in the move towards a system of marine protected areas. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268491.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:46:25 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268490.aspxU.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials have begun to sift through a mountain of comments on its Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study Draft Planning Report/Environmental Impact Statement -- a look at options for boosting water supply that includes a Black Rock Reservoir alternative which would cost an estimated $4.5 billion. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268490.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:45:18 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268489.aspxAn intake pipe plugged with ice early on Friday morning, March 28, resulted in the death of almost 200,000 young spring chinook salmon at a Clearwater Fish Hatchery satellite facility on the Lochsa River in central Idaho. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268489.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:43:53 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268488.aspxA human-caused "pulse" of water has begun gushing down the Middle Fork Willamette River as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, searches for flow strategies that will improve conditions for fish and wildlife downstream. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268488.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:42:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268486.aspxA 199-acre tract of land zoned for two-acre residential development near Philomath, Ore., will now be permanently protected wildlife habitat, thanks to the efforts of the landowner, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Greenbelt Land Trust. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268486.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:41:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268485.aspxA conference on ecosystem restoration activities in the lower Columbia River, estuary, and nearshore ocean will be held April 29-30 in Astoria, Ore. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268485.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:39:31 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268484.aspxThe northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf on Friday, March 28, was officially removed from the federal list of endangered species. The states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming will assume full management authority for the continued conservation of the gray wolf. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268484.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:38:26 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268482.aspxThe Bureau of Reclamation has announced the availability of the Odessa Subarea Special Study, which investigates replacing current groundwater use in the Odessa Ground Water Management Subarea with surface water from the Columbia Basin Project. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/268482.aspxFri, 04 Apr 2008 16:37:14 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266405.aspxWith federal approvals in hand, the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho are scurrying to complete details of a plan to pluck California sea lions from their Columbia River salmon gravy train as early as next month, and slate them for either execution or captive residence in faraway zoos and aquariums. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266405.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:53:11 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266404.aspxFish advocates say a plan to lethally remove California sea lions from base of the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam is a reasoned approach for reducing the predatory marine mammals' impacts on returning salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266404.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:51:33 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266403.aspxAnticipated record low returns of chinook salmon to the Sacramento and Klamath rivers, and expected low Oregon coastal coho and chinook and Columbia River coho returns, will likely leave California and most of Oregon without an ocean fishing season. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266403.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:50:18 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266402.aspxThe Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide during its April 7-12 meeting in Seattle how it wants West Coast salmon fisheries managed this year off the Oregon, Washington and California coasts. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266402.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:49:00 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266401.aspxCaspian terns winging their way to the Columbia River estuary will find their prized nesting habitat downsized this year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to encourage some of the salmon eating birds to settle elsewhere. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266401.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:47:22 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266400.aspxThe Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week announced the results of tests that show high concentrations of contamination in smallmouth bass in the Columbia River, in the vicinity of Bradford Island, near Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266400.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:46:05 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266399.aspxThe ongoing effort to explore the benefits of surface passage for juvenile fish at federal dams takes two steps forward this spring with the operation of new "spillway weirs" at both John Day Dam on the lower Columbia River and the lower Snake River's Lower Monumental Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266399.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:45:00 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266398.aspxWashington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation this week that will release the largest delivery of new water to towns and farms in the Columbia Basin, and for endangered salmon, in three decades. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266398.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:43:46 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266397.aspxThree technical documents that underpin NOAA Fisheries' developing Columbia/Snake river hydro system BiOp and recovery planning are scientifically sound, for the most part, but in need of some shoring up, according to a review completed March 7 by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266397.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:42:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266396.aspxEd Schriever of Lewiston, who has worked for Idaho Fish and Game for more than 24 years, all of it in fisheries -- some in hatcheries and most in management -- has been named IDFG'S new fisheries chief. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266396.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:41:35 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266395.aspxInterior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne this week announced more than $57.9 million in grants to 23 states and one territory -- including $12.3 million to states in the Pacific Region -- to support conservation planning and acquisition of habitat for threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266395.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:40:29 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266394.aspxCBB SHORTS: Marine Reserve Comments; Steelhead on Umatilla; Okanogan Steelhead Closure; Proposed Rockfish Listings; Stellar Sea Lion Protection in Alaska http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/266394.aspxFri, 21 Mar 2008 20:38:16 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265116.aspxThe trapping of California sea lions below Bonneville Dam is set to begin in the coming weeks with some of the animals, potentially, lethally removed and others finding their way to zoos and aquariums. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265116.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:45:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265114.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council could as soon as next month trigger a new, multi-phased fish and wildlife project selection process that would stretch into the winter of 2011. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265114.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:44:37 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265113.aspxThe NOAA Fisheries Service announced this week that it is formally accepting a petition from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to list eulachon (smelt) populations in Washington, Oregon and California for protection under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265113.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:43:25 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265112.aspxThere were a few drier-than-average areas in February, but precipitation fell where it counts most to assure, or nearly so, that the Columbia/Snake river basin will be provided a normal water supply during the coming spring and summer. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265112.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:41:29 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265111.aspxResearchers at Oregon State University have discovered what could be a new, limiting nutrient in the world's oceans. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265111.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:40:14 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265110.aspxIt is still too early to set salmon seasons, but Idaho's Fish and Game Commission anticipates opening some stretches of river that haven't seen a salmon season in 30 years if the forecast return of spring and summer chinook materializes. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265110.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:38:54 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265109.aspxA new steelhead management plan designed to protect and rebuild wild stocks throughout the state won approval by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission at a public meeting in Olympia March 8. http://www.cbbulletin.com/Free/265109.aspxFri, 14 Mar 2008 19:37:54 GMT