NWF.005/Mar.22.96

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Fish News
Reports on Fish Policy Development

[1] ENVIRO/FISHER GROUPS SUE TO FORCE MORE FLOWS AND SPILL :: A coalition of eight environmental and fisher groups have gone to court to force higher flow and spill in the Columbia River. The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Portland, charges the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation with failing to implement salmon recovery measures--including flow and spill targets--called for in the hydro biological opinion. The suit also asks the court to order the federal government to develop a better recovery plan for endangered salmon.

Calling the lawsuit "a last resort," Mitch Sanchotena of Idaho Steelhead and Salmon United accused the Clinton administration of failing to keep its promise to protect salmon. "Last March, the administration promised a change in business as usual on the Columbia River in order to protect vanishing salmon. Today, that plan looks like a joke. They set targets for flows and spills, but they have ignored them," he said in a press release from the umbrella fish advocate group, Save Our Wild Salmon. The plaintiffs are considering seeking an injunction since the migration season for spring/summer chinook begins next month [Lynn Francisco].

[2] CBFWA WILL NOT DISBAND, BUT FAILS TO FIND CONSENSUS :: The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority, which has the critical job of prioritizing fish recovery spending, is still seeking consensus among its member agencies. In a March 13 meeting, the state, tribal and federal fish agencies that make up the group agreed to continue as an organization, but failed to find what one member called "a collective vision." This failure has significantly delayed an effort to prioritize projects in the Northwest Power Planning Council's fish and wildlife program. Bob Turner, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, warned that the agencies "are taking ourselves out of the decision-making process on key issues" by failing to work together. The NWPPC has become increasingly frustrated with CBFWA's inability to complete its prioritization job. Power council staff recently suggested that council members consider significantly reducing CBFWA's $700,000 annual budget, or completely terminating funding [Bill Bakke].

[3] GORTON VOWS TO STOP CLINTON'S REQUEST FOR FUNDS TO REMOVE ELWHA DAMS :: Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) has vowed to stop President Clinton's 1997 budget request for $111 million to remove two dams on the Olympic Peninsula's Elwha River. Gorton, who chairs the Senate Interior appropriations subcommittee, insists dam removal will not bring salmon runs back to the Elwha. The senior Washington state Republican wants the dams relicensed, with a mandate that fish passage facilities be added. But dam removal has strong support from Interior Sec. Bruce Babbit, who cites federal studies that concluded dam removal could bring back 250,000 chinook and pink salmon. In news reports, Babbit was quoted as saying the administration did not expect Congress to approve the full $111 million. "What we would like is to get a clear statement of purpose from the Congress against which we can accumulate the money over the next three years," said Babbit. In 1992, Congress authorized the Interior department to buy and remove the dams, but has never approved the money for the job. Cost estimates range from $111 million to as high as $300 million [Lynn Francisco].

[4] NWPPC SETS SCHEDULE FOR HEARINGS ON 180-DAY REVIEW :: Facing a mid-May deadline, the Northwest Power Planning Council has set a fast-paced schedule for consultations and meetings on the 180-day review. The sessions are set for March and April in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The council is considering three alternatives to meet the Congressional mandate to find "the most appropriate governance structure to allow more effective regional control" over fish and wildlife recovery. The complete text of the alternatives is offered at our 180-day Web page [Lynn Francisco].

[5] HATFIELD LEGACY MAY BE A NEW NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL :: Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR) hopes to leave a legacy before he retires from the US Senate at the end of this year. The veteran lawmaker wants to replace the Northwest Power Planning Council with a new, powerful natural resources council that would have authority over all Northwest natural resources management. The vision goes beyond watershed planning to what Hatfield aide Ken Hart calls ecosystem management. In a recent speech to BPA employees, Hatfield said the region must go beyond political jurisdictions. "We can't consider water for generating electricity isolated from water needs for irrigation, navigation, recreation, fish protection and mitigation," he said. While the proposal still needs to be fleshed out, Hart said the senator would introduce legislation within a few weeks.

The proposal gained the support of current NWPPC chairman John Etchart, who applauded the call for more accountability and more effective natural resource management. But he cautioned that the new council would need considerably more authority than the power council, which functions primarily as a planning and advisory body [Lynn Francisco].

[6] SENATE FAILS TO REMOVE ESA LISTING MORATORIUM :: The US Senate, in a narrow 49-51 vote, failed to lift a year-old moratorium on listing new plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act. The moratorium, put into place to halt listings until the Act could be re-written, will be extended if President Clinton approves the 1997 budget. Republicans added the moratorium to the budget plan. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID) led the drive to retain the moratorium, promising to push his version of a revised ESA within the next few weeks. "Let's get pragmatic and reach the balance that's needed in the Act," said Kempthorne in a March 13 press release.

Kempthorne wants to give landowners more say in the listing process, adding a cost-benefit analysis and compensation if property values decline. Kempthorne also believes the secretaries of Interior and Agriculture--not the National Marine Fisheries Service or the US Fish and Wildlife Service--should make the final listing decision. Kempthorne did agree to give US Fish $2 million to continue listing and downlisting activities. In a March 19 press release, Kempthorne explained that without the funds, the agency "could face a backlog of delistings and downlisting work while the moratorium is in place." Meanwhile, species such as West Coast steelhead and coho, both likely to qualify for listing, remain in limbo [Lynn Francisco].

[7] IDAHO POWER WILL PAY NEZ PERCE TRIBE $16.5 MILLION :: Idaho Power Co. has agreed to pay the Nez Perce Tribe $16.5 million to mitigate damages to tribal fisheries caused by construction of the Hells Canyon complex. According to an Idaho Power press release, the settlement to a four-and-a-half-year-old lawsuit calls for payments over the next several years until Idaho Power secures a new federal license for the hydro project. The tribe agreed to spend $5 million on fish restoration projects. It also agreed to support Idaho Power when it asks the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to renew the project's license. Both sides were pleased at the settlement, with Idaho Power chief executive officer Joseph Marshall calling it "in the best interest of our company." The lawsuit, filed by the Nez Perce in 1991, claimed that the Hells Canyon Complex flooded tribal fishing grounds and destroyed access to tribal salmon fisheries. A US District Court judge had dismissed the suit, but the tribe appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tribal executive committee chairman Samuel Penney praised the agreement, but said the lawsuit "was important...to protect treaty-reserved rights and interests." The agreement still needs federal approval as well as endorsement from the Oregon and Idaho public utility commissions and from FERC [Lynn Francisco].

[8] REPORT CLAIMS BATT BULL TROUT PLAN SERIOUSLY FLAWED :: A consultant for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies claims that Idaho Gov. Phil Batt's bull trout conservation plan will not protect the fish and could push it closer to extinction. In his critique, F. Al Espinosa, a fisheries biologist in the Clearwater National Forest for 20 years, says the Batt plan will delay genuine conservation efforts and "protect the special commodity interests that have been degrading Idaho watersheds for years."

Batt's plan is based on local watershed planning efforts; Espinosa insists that's been tried in other conservation efforts, with little success. Espinosa also says the governor's plan leaves out key issues, such as the bull trout's reliance on quickly-disappearing salmon runs and the eggs they produce. He also contends the 59 watersheds identified in the governor's plan are only a portion of the watersheds critical to bull trout. The Alliance petitioned the federal government to list bull trout as endangered. When that effort failed, the organization sued to force the listing. The case is pending [Lynn Francisco].

[9] FINAL GBD PANEL REPORT, COMPLETE WITH DIVERGENT VIEWS, IS DUE OUT MARCH 29; E-MAIL NOTIFICATION AVAILABLE :: NMFS Gas Bubble Disease panel chair Chuck Coutant of the Oak Ridge National Lab said last week that the final report of the panel is due out in a matter of days. Coutant said that differences of opinion on certain issues, which caused a controversy when some members objected to a summary of panel findings which Coutant wrote without panel review a month ago, will be included in the final report and summary. Doug Dey of NMFS said he expected the report to be released on March 29. When the report is issued, it will be available in the Document Annex for this issue [Cyrus Noë].

Document Annex
Works Cited

DOCUMENTS FROM NW FISHLETTER 005 :: Below are listed available documents referred to in the text of NW Fishletter issue 005.

• Fish.NET's 180-Day Report Web Page.

• Gov. Philip Batt. Bull Trout Conservation Plan. January 24, 1996

THE ARCHIVE :: Previous NW Fishletter issues and supporting documents.