The following weekly news summary was compiled by the Congressional Research Service from a variety of information sources. New info and changes since 1/22/99 are bracketed {...} New info and changes since 1/28/99 double-bracketed {{...}}
Cleve Steward Sustainable Fisheries Foundation Tel. 425-670-3584
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On Jan. 28, 1999, the Portland Oregonian reported that NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are likely to combine the current Endangered Species Act listing of searun cutthroat trout on the Umpqua River, OR, with a larger coastal population, possibly within the next month. The larger coastal Oregon subpopulation would not be proposed for listing, essentially delisting the Umpqua River searun cutthroat, and critical habitat designation for Umpqua River trout would also be rescinded.
At the same time, southwestern WA/Columbia River coastal cutthroat trout would be proposed for listing as threatened.}[Portland Oregonian]
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On Jan. 27, 1999, the Seattle Herald reported that an NMFS official suggested that Puget Sound chinook salmon were likely to be listed as threatened rather than endangered under the Endangered Species Act sometime before Mar. 9, 1999.}}[Seattle Herald]
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On Jan. 27, 1999, President Clinton and Vice President Gore announced, during a conference call with western state officials, an FY2000 federal budget proposal to invest an additional $100 million in restoration of coastal Pacific salmon stocks, to be matched by state or local contributions. The Administration's budget will propose creation of a Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund to focus recovery efforts on Pacific salmon stocks in rivers west of the Cascade and Coastal Mountain ranges. This fund will be allocated to purchase conservation easements, to finance streambank plantings and stabilization, to assess watershed health and instream habitat, and to monitor the success of restoration activities.}{{A maximum of 10% of the fund will assist Tribal fish restoration efforts. This Fund will be administered by the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Pacific Salmon Task Force, chaired by the Council on Environmental Quality.}} {Additional FY2000 proposals beneficial to salmon include 1) $1.7 million to modify Willamette River basin dams to improve water temperature control, 2) $25 million for NMFS salmon recovery planning efforts, and 3) $12 million in additional funds for removal of two Elwha River, WA, dams.}[Trout Unlimited press release, White House press release, Environment News Service, Los Angeles Times]
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In late January 1999, the Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled forums in 17 communities in the Snake River basin for citizens to testify on how dam breaching might affect communities.
In each community, 12 citizens will be selected to talk with social scientists; testimony will be the basis for social analysis in the environmental impact statement to be prepared by the Corps on Snake River hydropower options. [Portland Oregonian]
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On Jan. 19, 1999, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, on behalf of a coalition of environmental and fishing groups, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court (Seattle, WA), seeking to force the federal government to modify about two dozen timber sales in the Umpqua River Basin deemed harmful to endangered sea-run cutthroat trout and threatened coho salmon. After a federal court decision on a 1997 lawsuit halted these same timber sales in spring 1998, plaintiffs charge that the sales are again proceeding with no significant changes. [Portland Oregonian]
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On Jan. 19, 1999, WA Governor Gary Locke's Salmon Recovery Office announced a comprehensive salmon recovery plan, Water for People and Fish, accompanied by details of proposed omnibus salmon legislation, most of which modifies environmental and water law. The plan focuses on permitting fewer wells in rural areas, requiring tougher water conservation measures, and using more recycled water in the Puget Sound region. [Portland Oregonian, Seattle Times]
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In mid-January 1999, NMFS scientists reported to the Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) that survival of downstream migrating salmon and steelhead trout is as high as has ever been measured, likely due to passage improvements at dams. However, little improvement has been noted in the survival of adults returning upstream to spawn, likely due to poor ocean conditions, overharvest, predation, and other unknown factors. [NPPC Congressional Update]
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On Jan. 15, 1999, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis released a study "Using Science in Habitat Conservation Plans." In habitat conservation plans (HCPs) private entities provide measures to mitigate taking of endangered species and alteration of their habitat. The report can be viewed at: http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/. The report concludes that critical scientific information about endangered species and measures to provide adequate biological monitoring to determine the effect of the HCP on endangered species are often lacking in the HCPs. {{On Feb. 8, 1999, AIBS has scheduled a 3-hour AIBS Biology Roundtable Series event "Using Science in Habitat Conservation Plans" to be held at the National Press Club, Washington, DC, discussing the recently released study of HCPs.}}[personal communication, AIBS press release]
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In mid-January 1999, a final settlement on a 1991 lawsuit between Avista Corp., operating dams on the Clearwater River, and the Nez Perce Tribe was approved. The lawsuit by the Tribe sought compensation for treaty fishing rights lost or diminished by operation of the Clearwater River dams. Avista Corp. Will pay the Tribe $2.5 million immediately as well as 44 annual payments of $835,498. [Environmental News Network]
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On Jan. 14, 1999, environmental and commercial fishing groups filed a lawsuit in Superior Court seeking to halt a Sonoma County, CA, plan to divert additional water from the Eel River into the Russian River at Potter Valley. Critics claim this plan, approved Dec. 15, 1998, by the Sonoma County Water Agency, would nearly eliminate steelhead trout and coho salmon fisheries. [Sacramento Bee]
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On Jan. 13, 1999, two CA environmental groups filed suit in U.S. District Court (San Francisco) seeking to force NMFS to designate coho salmon critical habitat from northern CA to central OR. The groups charge that NMFS has missed a mandatory deadline for designating critical habitat for coho salmon listed as threatened in May 1997. [Sacramento Bee, Environment News Service]
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On Jan. 11, 1999, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, meeting in Portland, OR, heard arguments on appeals of two lower court decisions affecting salmon.
In one, conservationists asked that NMFS be ordered to revise their salmon recovery plan to increase the likelihood of salmon recovery; in the other, conservationists asked that the practice of barging juvenile salmon downstream be discontinued in favor of other measures such as dam breaching. Aluminum companies argued that Bonneville Power Administration should be instructed to pay more attention to the needs of its customers. [Portland Oregonian]
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On Jan. 11, 1999, Trout Unlimited (TU) officials from Canada and the United States jointly announced the development of a set of 10 recommendations -- http://www.tu.org/library/conservation/pacificsalmon99.pdf ? for resolving the crisis over the Pacific salmon treaty. TU plans to present a copy of the recommendations to Canada's Minister of Fisheries, U.S. White House officials, and members of the Pacific Salmon Commission. Recommendations include 1) a requirement that no fishing occur on shared salmon stocks unless both Canada and the United States agree to harvest levels; 2) reduction of salmon harvest through license buyouts; 3) setting of harvest levels on better salmon population estimates; 4) reallocation of salmon harvest between the United States and Canada; 5) mass marking of hatchery salmon to provide for selective harvest; 6) use of fishing techniques that reduce unintentional salmon bycatch; 7) modifications to how the Pacific Salmon Commission conducts business, 8) 40% reduction of BC sockeye harvest by WA fishermen, and 9) reduction of hatchery production by both nations.[TU press release]
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On Jan. 7, 1999, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) officials released the results of a preliminary study by BPA economists, estimating that electricity bills would increase an average of $2 to $5 a month if the 4 lower Snake River dams were breached to benefit salmon.
In addition, lowering irrigation pumps behind Ice Harbor Dam could cost $20 million a year, while increased costs of transporting wheat and other commodities downriver to Portland could be about $50 million a year. [Portland Oregonian]
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On Jan. 4, 1999, sport fishing activists -- http://www.banallnets.com ? filed an initiative to protect salmon by banning commercial fishing nets in WA state waters. Supporters of the initiative must collect at least 179,248 signatures of registered voters by July 1999 to have the initiative placed on the November 1999 ballot. A similar effort, Initiative 640, failed in 1995, receiving 45% of the vote. Tribal use of nets would not be affected by the proposed initiative. [Daily Herald (Everett)] OR Salmon Management.
On Jan. 6, 1999, the OR Board of Forestry created a special committee ? The Forest Practices Advisory Committee on Salmon and Watersheds ? to revise logging regulations applicable to private lands to better protect salmon and trout. The first meeting of this new Committee is scheduled for Jan. 14, 1999, in Keizer, OR, with recommendations to the Board due in June 1999. Issues for the new Committee include landslides, protection of tributaries too small for fish, and cumulative effects of logging.
On Jan. 4, 1999, OR Governor John Kitzhaber was reported as reviewing a draft 16-page Executive Order requiring that all actions paid for or authorized by the state not harm salmon and directing all OR state agencies to work to save every OR salmon stock. However, critics are concerned about what they characterize as lenient fish habitat recovery requirements for private lands. Gov. Kitzhaber was scheduled to sign the Executive Order on Jan. 11, 1999. [Portland Oregonian]
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