Three federal agencies have released a draft of their newest prescription keeping the lights on and seeing that ESA-listed salmon populations in the Columbia Basin don't wink out. ...more

Columbia Basin harvest managers said the spring chinook run is tracking pretty close to their pre-season estimate of 78,500 fish, which would be the third lowest return of the past 10 years. On May 21, they reiterated their belief, even though dam counts were dropping to 500 or fewer fish per day. The University of Washington's inseason forecaster was more pessimistic. On May 21, it pegged the spring run at Bonneville to be only about 70,000--down from its own pre-season estimate of 83,000. It figured the spring run was about 86 percent history. ...more

Federal fish officials announced earlier this month that Puget Sound steelhead stocks should be added to a long list of Northwest stocks for protection under the ESA, joining local chinook, some chum and bull trout from Sound watersheds. ...more

Warming temperatures could cause changes in both freshwater and ocean habitat, short-circuiting salmon recovery efforts over the long term while having a huge effect on the hydro system, according to the Independent Scientific Advisory Board review of the potential impacts of global warming on regional salmon populations. ...more

Hydro managers turned down a recommendation last week by NOAA Fisheries to maximize fish transportation in the Snake River for the rest of the spring. With reduced flows expected after the freshet's spike, the agency said, fish would be better off in barges than facing poor inriver migration conditions. ...more

Judge James Redden issued an opinion and order this week that calls on BPA and the Corps of Engineers to comply with the 2007 spill agreement after an April marketing snafu, compounded by large releases of water from Grand Coulee to reach BiOp levels, led operators to operate turbines at lower Columbia mainstem dams outside of 1 percent efficiency to produce enough power to meet generating commitments. Operation of turbines within 1 percent efficiency is also part of the spill agreement. ...more

Northwest Power and Conservation Council staffer Tony Grover has been named to run the council's Fish and Wildlife Division, starting June 1. He is currently the subbasin planning lead and policy analyst for the Washington office of the council. ...more