http://www.cbbulletin.com/default.aspxColumbia Basin Bulletin recent articlesFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:29:13 GMTSmartSolutions.Impact, Version=2.5.1383.19310, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=nullhttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60http://www.cbbulletin.com/lunarlogo.gifhttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379770.aspxThe plan is for a "rollover" of the strategy used in 2009 to guide operations of the Columbia-Snake river mainstem hydro projects during the spring of 2010. But at least one major change could take place in May -- federal agencies, due to low flows, may decide to rush as many juvenile salmon as possible downstream aboard barges. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379770.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:29:13 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379769.aspxThe record 2009 summer steelhead return to Idaho and northeast Oregon streams has continued unabated into a new year that also may see the biggest upriver spring chinook salmon run in modern times. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379769.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:27:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379768.aspxFishing and conservation groups this week asked the Washington Department of Ecology to ease its totaled dissolved gas restrictions so that hydro projects on the Snake and Columbia rivers can spill more water to help downstream passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379768.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:26:28 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379767.aspxThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week announced plans for implementing operations at the lower Columbia's Bonneville Dam aimed at easing downstream passage for steelhead kelt, which are spawned out fish heading back toward the estuary and ocean to repair themselves for, perhaps, a return to freshwater for another try at reproduction. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379767.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:24:53 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379766.aspxThe tailwater elevation below Bonneville Dam will be dropped in a stair-step fashion beginning Monday with the expectation that most of the chum salmon fry to be produced this year in wetted gravels downstream will have emerged from their eggshells ready to swim. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379766.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:23:17 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379765.aspxCalifornia sea lions late this week were as scarce as spring chinook salmon in the area just below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam after state biologists captured seven of the big creatures and removed five of them. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379765.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:21:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379764.aspxOregon's recreational and commercial ocean salmon seasons scheduled to open from March 15 through April 30 have been closed due, in part, to a low projected run of fall chinook to the Sacramento River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379764.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:20:28 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379763.aspxNew Clean Water Act water quality standards recently adopted by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation may be the harbinger of stricter pollution controls for point-source discharges, including those of municipalities and industry. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379763.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:19:05 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379762.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week designated critical habitat for the Oregon chub, a small fish native to Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Oregon chub was listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1993. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379762.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:17:28 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379761.aspxA 10-year effort by a University of Rhode Island scientist to develop transgenic rainbow trout with enhanced muscle growth has yielded fish with what have been described as six-pack abs and muscular shoulders that could provide a boost to the commercial aquaculture industry. http://www.cbbulletin.com/379761.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:15:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/379760.aspxCBB Shorts: Wind Turbine Impacts On Wildlife; Yakima Basin Water Supply; Rocky Mountain Goat Wandering; New Chief Of Law Enforcement For CRITFC; British Columbia Snowpack; Climate Change Webinar http://www.cbbulletin.com/379760.aspxFri, 12 Mar 2010 21:14:01 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378841.aspxNOAA Fisheries Service says that in low-flow years, such as 2010 is almost certain to be, a shutting off of spring spill for fish passage at lower Snake River "collector" dams and a shift to "maximum" transportation would result in greater steelhead and spring/summer chinook salmon returns a few years down the road. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378841.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:42:35 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378839.aspxNOAA Fisheries Service says the elimination of spill this spring at three Snake River dams would reduce risks faced by outmigrating wild juvenile steelhead and spring/summer chinook salmon during what is expected to be a low-flow year. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378839.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:40:44 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378837.aspxOregon officials on Wednesday trapped and euthanized with chemical injection the first California sea lion of the new season in the ongoing effort remove specific pinnipeds that are preying on salmon spawners in the waters below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378837.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:39:10 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378836.aspxThe reigning Federal Columbia River Power System biological opinion requires fishery and hydro managers to revisit their annual chum salmon redd protection decision at least monthly to make sure "it is consistent with the need to provide spring flows for listed Columbia and Snake River stocks." http://www.cbbulletin.com/378836.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:37:36 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378835.aspxThe prospect of a huge spring chinook return to the Columbia River basin already has anglers in a fever. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378835.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:36:18 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378834.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that, based on accumulated scientific data and new peer-reviewed information and analysis, the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378834.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:34:53 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378833.aspxA recently released report from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, completed as part of a federal watershed needs survey, estimates that it could cost up to $1.2 billion to restore streamside vegetation and improve streamside habitat from pollution caused by agriculture and other activities throughout the Willamette basin. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378833.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:33:36 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378832.aspxWith snowpack levels in much of the Cascade Mountain Range at 25 percent or more below average, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has asked the state Legislature to re-establish the state's drought relief reserves. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378832.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:32:04 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378831.aspxThe ongoing El Niño of 2010 is affecting north Pacific Ocean ecosystems in ways that could affect the West Coast fishing industry, according to scientists at NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378831.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:31:03 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378830.aspxMontana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have introduced legislation aimed at protecting the North Fork Flathead from mining, a response to similar protections recently enacted by the province of British Columbia. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378830.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:29:49 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378829.aspxThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and The Nature Conservancy signed a partnering agreement Feb. 26 to conduct an aquatic ecosystem restoration project on Camp Creek, a tributary to the Imnaha River near Enterprise, Ore. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378829.aspxFri, 05 Mar 2010 21:28:18 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378078.aspxSteller sea lions continue to pluck white sturgeon from Columbia River waters just downstream of Bonneville Dam at nearly double last year's record pace as they take advantage of a "slug" of the big fish that have once again assembled in the area below the hydro project's second powerhouse fish ladders. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378078.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:37:22 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378077.aspxRunoff volumes past The Dalles Dam on the lower Columbia River would rank as 46th lowest in the past 50 years if the latest forecast proves to be accurate. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378077.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:35:58 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378075.aspxJudge James A. Redden on Friday (Feb. 19) gave agencies three months to make whole their strategy for assuring the Federal Columbia River Power System avoids jeopardizing the survival of protected Columbia-Snake river salmon and steelhead stocks. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378075.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:34:49 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378074.aspxFishery managers are predicting that "upriver" fall chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River this year will be the biggest since 2004, and the third largest since the late 1980s. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378074.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:33:29 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378073.aspxU.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., this week introduced legislation that would authorize funding of efforts to reduce pollution in the Columbia River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378073.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:32:26 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378072.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday it will again withdraw its proposal to list as threatened the Southwest Washington/Columbia River Distinct Population Segment of coastal cutthroat trout. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378072.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:29:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378071.aspxThe Pacific Fishery Management Council says higher returns of Sacramento River fall chinook this year will allow for some ocean fishing. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378071.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:28:21 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378070.aspxThe Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that the statewide commercial salmon harvest in 2010 is projected to total 138 million salmon of all species. This is a decrease compared to 2009, with most of the decrease expected to come from lower pink salmon catches. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378070.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:26:51 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378069.aspxRichard Hannan, an 18-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been named the Pacific Region's assistant regional director for Fishery Resources, Robyn Thorson, regional director, announced today. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378069.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:25:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378068.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a public meeting Wednesday, March 3, on its proposal to revise critical habitat for the bull trout, a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378068.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:23:13 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378067.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded $7 million in grants to fund 42 Native American projects that benefit fish and wildlife and their habitat. Of those funds, $1,302,539 will be awarded to tribes in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378067.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:21:46 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/378066.aspxIn January, wolves killed four calves and a cattle dog at a Sweet-Ola area feed lot. Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials worked with the producer and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services to stop depredations, but the wolves kept coming back. http://www.cbbulletin.com/378066.aspxFri, 26 Feb 2010 21:19:00 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377395.aspxA new look at the data, including that collected during the significantly changed hydro operations of recent years, produces the same message -- after a certain point in time in springtime juvenile salmon and steelhead from the Snake River basin that were collected and barged downstream survive to adulthood at higher rates than fish allowed to proceed downstream in-river and through juvenile bypass systems. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377395.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 21:03:22 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377394.aspxNo one wants non-native, invasive zebra or quagga mussels anywhere near the Columbia River basin. So researchers have taken water to the mollusks in an attempt to evaluate how they might fare if they made their way to the Northwest. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377394.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 21:01:11 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377393.aspxWith a record upriver spring chinook salmon return expected, anglers should be able to land catch and keep as many as 17,200 hatchery salmon during an early fishing season mapped this week for the lower Columbia River by Oregon and Washington fishery managers. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377393.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:59:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377392.aspxNOAA's Fisheries Service has dropped out of the debate over the legality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's September 2008 "conditional" approval of a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Columbia River estuary. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377392.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:58:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377391.aspxBacked by the words "Partnering to Protect Our Shared Environment," Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell signed an agreement that bans mining and coal and gas development in the transboundary Flathead River drainage. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377391.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:57:56 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377390.aspxQuestions, suggestions and many criticisms were recently aimed at a lake trout gillnetting project on Flathead Lake proposed by the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377390.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:56:43 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377389.aspxSecretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Thursday joined Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, PacificCorp Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel and the chairmen of the Klamath, Yurok and Karuk Tribes in announcing final agreements that could potentially lead to removal of four dams on the Klamath River and the largest river restoration project in the nation's history. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377389.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:55:25 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377387.aspxFishery managers from Washington and Oregon on Thursday adopted fishing seasons for white sturgeon that provide greater protection than in the past for dwindling populations in the lower Columbia River. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377387.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:54:01 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377386.aspxOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff collared three wolves in eastern Oregon from the Imnaha pack last week, which will help wildlife managers better track and understand the pack's movements. http://www.cbbulletin.com/377386.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:52:44 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/377385.aspxCBB SHORTS: Spokane Water Quality; New Administrator For NOAA Fisheries; Emergency Beacons For Tribal Fishing Boats; Lifetime Achievement Award For Council's Peter Paquet http://www.cbbulletin.com/377385.aspxFri, 19 Feb 2010 20:49:54 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376649.aspxU.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden this week offered the government the opportunity to shore up its plan for protecting salmon and steelhead stocks that migrate through Columbia-Snake river dams and reservoirs. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376649.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:28:19 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376648.aspxDespite estimates of a 2010 upriver spring chinook salmon run that will be the best ever, non-tribal anglers and gill-netters in the lower Columbia River will be held in check to some degree until managers know that that dream run is indeed building. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376648.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:27:00 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376647.aspxAdvocates of a mainstem Columbia River gillnet ban say they will go back to the drawing board, disappointed with changes made to their Oregon ballot initiative proposal made by the state Attorney General's Office. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376647.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:25:21 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376646.aspxA new study by researchers at Oregon State University found that up to nearly half of the ocean-bound juvenile steelhead surveyed in two Oregon river systems appear to have died when they reached the estuaries -- before they could reach the ocean. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376646.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:23:12 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376645.aspxThe ocean abundance of Columbia River coho is expected to be 389,500 fish this year, or about 37 percent of 2009's post-season total calculation of just over 1 million, according to a preseason forecast produced by the Oregon Production Index technical team. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376645.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:21:39 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376644.aspxA new regional power plan adopted this week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council says 85 percent of the new demand for electricity over the next 20 years in the Northwest can be met by using energy more efficiently. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376644.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:19:59 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376643.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Sixth Power Plan says the regional power system for the next 20 years can fund actions to benefit Columbia Basin fish and wildlife, including salmon and steelhead runs listed under the Endangered Species Act, while maintaining an economic, reliable energy supply. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376643.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:14:03 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376641.aspxIn its Sixth Power Plan, The Northwest Power and Conservation Council ran a modeling scenario examining the effects of removing the lower Snake River dams on power system costs and carbon emissions. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376641.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:10:29 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376640.aspxHigh catch rates and angler effort have made short work of the 2010 white sturgeon sport season in the Bonneville Dam pool despite a doubling of the allowed harvest in the Columbia River reservoir. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376640.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:07:49 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376639.aspxIt is expected that the states of Oregon and Washington will decide next week on a white sturgeon harvest reduction on the lower Columbia River mainstem of 35 to 45 percent over recent years' allocations. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376639.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:06:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376638.aspxPlans for an experimental water spill from Montana's Libby Dam to help Kootenai River white sturgeon this spring now are uncertain because of below-average mountain snowpack above the dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376638.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:05:20 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/376637.aspxThe lieutenant governor of British Columbia announced Tuesday that all types of mining and oil and gas development "will not be permitted" in the province's portion of the Flathead Valley. http://www.cbbulletin.com/376637.aspxFri, 12 Feb 2010 22:04:20 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375793.aspxSnowpack totals are down across the entire Columbia-Snake river basin this winter as compared to long-term averages, and as a result so are hopes for a generous water supply this spring and summer for migrating salmon, power generators, irrigators and other users. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375793.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:25:41 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375792.aspxNow in the 11th hour of an eight-year, $8 million study, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, along with the states of Oregon and Washington, local officials and the farm community, have started working with congressional leaders and the Obama Administration to secure funding for a $300 million project that would guarantee a source of water to irrigate crops while leaving flows in the Walla Walla River for migrating salmon and steelhead. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375792.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:22:55 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375791.aspxEver-increasing levels of predation by Steller sea lions, and to some degree California sea lions, on white sturgeon appears to be a trend that is continuing upward in the waters below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375791.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:21:37 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375790.aspxThe newly devised Adaptive Management Implementation Plan's triggering system got a test drive this fall and winter with an evaluation of whether the endangered Upper Columbia River spring chinook salmon stock had dipped to levels that require revival actions beyond those already taking place. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375790.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:20:26 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375789.aspxAn overtime legal debate came to a close late last week with the federal government reiterating its stance that it can supplement the official record in the long-running lawsuit over the legitimacy of its Columbia-Snake river hydro system "BiOp." http://www.cbbulletin.com/375789.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:19:08 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375788.aspxThe first known spring chinook salmon catch of the year was reported Feb. 1 in the Columbia River off Davis Bar, west of Vancouver, Wash., according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's "Weekender Report." http://www.cbbulletin.com/375788.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:17:29 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375787.aspxA newfound regional momentum in both the fish and wildlife and power arenas needs to be encouraged and nurtured by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, says Bruce Measure, newly elected NPCC chair. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375787.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:15:50 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375786.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation this week announced that seven projects designed to benefit salmon, sea birds and native plants have been selected to receive a total of $600,000 from the Columbia River Estuarine Coastal Fund. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375786.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:14:26 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375777.aspxPyrethroids, among the most widely-used home pesticides, are winding up in California rivers at levels toxic to some stream-dwellers, possibly endangering the food supply of fish and other aquatic animals, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Southern Illinois University. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375777.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:07:11 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375776.aspxNOAA has taken delivery of Bell M. Shimada, the agency’s newest high-tech fisheries survey vessel. Bell M. Shimada's primary mission will be to study, monitor and collect data on a wide range of sea life and ocean conditions, primarily in U.S. waters from Washington state to southern California. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375776.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:05:20 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375775.aspxAlthough the American pika is potentially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in portions of its range, the best available scientific information indicates that pikas will be able to survive despite higher temperatures. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375775.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:01:31 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375774.aspxSecretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has appointed Steve Doherty, an experienced attorney, former Montana state senator, and recent parks and wildlife commission chair, as senior advisor to the secretary for the Northwest. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375774.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 21:00:24 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/375773.aspxTribal leaders from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission praised the Obama Administration for a long-sought funding increase for tribal treaty rights-based natural resource management. http://www.cbbulletin.com/375773.aspxFri, 05 Feb 2010 20:57:35 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374819.aspxThe Oregon Attorney General's office is now weighing the legality of a ballot initiative proposal that would outlaw the use of gillnets in Oregon waters -- notably the Columbia River -- by non-Indian commercial fishermen. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374819.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:54:44 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374818.aspxThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was overly hasty and acted without proper environmental impacts analysis in licensing the proposed construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas ship terminal and plant in the Columbia River estuary, according to legal briefs filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374818.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:53:09 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374817.aspxThe Bureau of Reclamation and the Washington State Department of Ecology have completed the Cle Elum Fish Passage Facilities and Fish Reintroduction Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374817.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:51:53 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374816.aspxOregon has experienced an unusually long warm spell this January, contributing to very low snowpack -- especially in the lower elevations of the Cascade Mountains -- that could create problems for farmers and others dependent on summer stream flows. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374816.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:50:35 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374815.aspxAn arrest warrant this week was issued for a commercial trucker from Michigan charged with transporting invasive zebra mussels into Washington state aboard a 50-foot cabin cruiser. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374815.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:49:09 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374813.aspxFollow-on tests of the mineral oil that leaked from a spare transformer Dec. 23 at The Dalles Lock and Dam on the Columbia River near The Dalles, Ore., have detected extremely low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls. PCBs are a suspected human health carcinogen and bioaccumulate in the food chain. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374813.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:47:52 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374811.aspxThe Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adopting a new package of sportfishing rules for 2010-12, as well as updates to the Columbia River sturgeon management policy, during a public meeting Feb. 4-6 in Olympia. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374811.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:46:32 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374810.aspxLast summer, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission opened 130 miles of the Salmon River from Island Park in Salmon City upstream to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery for chinook salmon fishing. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374810.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:45:07 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374809.aspxPublic concern about global warming has dropped sharply since the fall of 2008, according to the results of a national survey released this week by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374809.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:43:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374808.aspxGlobal warming may impair the ability of ecosystems to perform vital services -- such as providing food, clean water and carbon sequestration --says the nation's largest organization of ecological scientists. http://www.cbbulletin.com/374808.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:42:08 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/374807.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been receiving calls about brown pelicans that are either washing up dead on the coast or are exhibiting behavior which is uncharacteristic for the species (ie. begging for food, no fear of humans, eating bread crumbs as handouts). http://www.cbbulletin.com/374807.aspxFri, 29 Jan 2010 20:40:15 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373909.aspxLiving-feeding conditions for young salmon took a turn for the worst in that 600-mile wide swath of water off the Oregon and Washington coasts called the California current, according to NOAA Fisheries Service scientists. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373909.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:49:17 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373908.aspxCivil engineers at the University of Washington and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Seattle office have taken a first look at how dams in the Columbia River basin, the nation's largest hydropower system, could be managed for a different climate. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373908.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:48:11 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373907.aspxPlaintiffs in the long-running debate over the legality of the Columbia-Snake river hydro system salmon protection plan say the federal government is "proposing illusory ways" to satisfy the Administrative Procedures Act and convince the court that after-the-fact information should be considered in the case. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373907.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:46:57 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373906.aspxWillamette River projects are expected to take an increasingly larger share of the Columbia River Fish Mitigation program pie, according the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373906.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:45:48 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373905.aspxThe U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific and Mountain-Prairie regions, collaborating with other partners, have provided funding to enhance regional efforts to detect and prevent the spread of invasive mussels. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373905.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:44:25 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373904.aspxThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration Jan. 15 announced the deferral of a proposal to allow fluctuations of up to 5 feet in the elevation of north Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille this winter pending further review and public coordination. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373904.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:42:54 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373903.aspxBiologists working to recover the kokanee population in Lake Pend Oreille are encouraged by progress seen in 2009. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373903.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:41:33 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373902.aspxWith another poor run of smelt expected to return to the Columbia River and its tributaries, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife this week announced it would limit sport fishing on the Cowlitz River sport fishery to only four days this winter. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373902.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:40:09 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373901.aspxA new study has been published showing snowpack trends in the Cascade Mountains from 1930 to 2007. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373901.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:34:47 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373900.aspxEarth has warmed much less than expected during the industrial era based on current best estimates of Earth's "climate sensitivity" -- the amount of global temperature increase expected in response to a given rise in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, says a new report. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373900.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:33:04 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373899.aspxA new analysis of global surface temperatures by NASA scientists finds the past year was tied for the second warmest since 1880. In the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year on record. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373899.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:31:38 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/373898.aspxSecretary of Commerce Gary Locke has determined that there has been a commercial fishery failure for the Yukon River chinook salmon due to low salmon returns. http://www.cbbulletin.com/373898.aspxFri, 22 Jan 2010 21:30:05 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372983.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday gave its endorsement to seven "accord" fish and wildlife projects that will absorb more than $28 million in funding over a 10-year span. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372983.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:15:46 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372977.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week gave its blessing to a steelhead kelt "reconditioning" project with the hope that the strategy will be a helpful tool in efforts to restore a flagging Upper Columbia River steelhead stock. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372977.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:10:01 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372976.aspxThe Idaho Department of Fish and Game says it is ready to launch the three-step process that must be completed before it can build the hatchery needed to boost production of endangered Snake River sockeye to as many as 1 million smolts annually. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372976.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:08:34 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372974.aspxThe Northwest Power and Conservation Council's economic advisers will evaluate the possible economic and biological costs faced by the federal Columbia-Snake river hydro system and fish and wildlife if non-native quagga and/or zebra mussels invade the basin. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372974.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:06:37 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372973.aspxMontana's Bruce Measure on Wednesday was elected unanimously by members to serve as chair of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council during 2010. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372973.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:05:26 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372972.aspxA slow start to the 2009-2010 rain and snow season has forecasters predicting below average runoff to fill rivers, reservoirs and lakes during the spring and summer. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372972.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:03:35 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372971.aspxThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a new and expanded critical habitat designation for bull trout, the third designation in the last decade. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372971.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:02:07 GMThttp://www.cbbulletin.com/372970.aspxU.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson this week announced the selection of Dennis J. McLerran to be the agency's regional administrator for EPA's Region 10. The region encompasses Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. http://www.cbbulletin.com/372970.aspxFri, 15 Jan 2010 21:00:54 GMT