Will Rep. Simpson’s $33.5 Billion ‘Columbia Basin Initiative’ Have Congressional Support, Be Included In Infrastructure Bill?
April 9th, 2021
When Congress returns to the Capitol next week after a two-week recess, the question on everyone’s mind will be what is included in the more than $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs bill Democrats are crafting.
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Next Steps For Columbia Basin Collaborative To Focus On Refining Process, Participation, Funding
April 9th, 2021
What are the next steps for the proposed regional forum, the Columbia Basin Collaborative, which held an organizational workshop in February? Organizers of this new collaborative effort aimed at recovering salmonid species in the Columbia River Basin this week issued a summary of the workshop results and what might come next.
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How To Mitigate For Decimation Of Salmon/Steelhead Runs Due To Dams? Columbia/Snake Hatcheries Pump Out 140 Million Juveniles A Year
March 11th, 2021
Some 140 million juvenile salmon and steelhead are released each year from Columbia and Snake river hatcheries with 97 million of the fish released from hatcheries upstream of Bonneville Dam.
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WDFW Seeks Public Comment On EA For Proposed Revisions To Hatchery Policy, Stresses Importance Of Hatchery Fish For Killer Whales
March 11th, 2021
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comment on an environmental analysis of a proposed update to the Department’s hatchery reform policy.
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Conditions – Water Supply, Flows, Dissolved Gas Levels — Look Good For Spring Hatchery Releases In Clearwater River
March 5th, 2021
Even with a suddenly higher March 1 water supply forecast, operators at Dworshak Dam say they will be able maintain river flows and total dissolved gas levels below Idaho clean water standards so that Clearwater River hatcheries can safely release smolts.
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Parties Discuss Next Steps For Columbia Basin Collaborative; Workshop Participants Stress Urgency, Simpson Plan
February 26th, 2021
In its first public workshop the Columbia Basin Collaborative this week outlined how the new group would be organized and how it would bring parties together to rebuild the region’s threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead stocks and advance the goals of the Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force.
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Idaho Counting On Anglers To Collect Steelhead Broodstock On South Fork Clearwater River
February 12th, 2021
Since 2010, Idaho Department of Fish and Game has been recruiting volunteer anglers to catch adult steelhead from the South Fork Clearwater River. Hatcheries rely on anglers from around the region, other states, and even other countries to collect steelhead broodstock on the South Fork Clearwater River each year.
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Fisheries Managers Object To Fluctuating ‘Load Following’ Releases Out Of Dworshak; Says Harms Fish, Fishing, River
February 5th, 2021
Fisheries managers are not happy about federal hydro managers’ decision to engage in “day load shaping operations” at Idaho’s Dworshak Dam last week, a practice that has not been implemented since 1986. The biologists say such operations negatively impact juvenile fall chinook, fisheries and river ecology.
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Washington State Salmon Recovery Report: Most Populations Not Making Progress, Some On Path To Extinction
January 15th, 2021
A new report from Washington State’s Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office shows that most salmon populations in the state still are not making progress and some are teetering on the brink of extinction.