CANTWELL WANTS UPPER SNAKE PROVISION IN SPENDING BILL REMOVED Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 (PST)

Washington U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell this week asked for removal of a appropriations bill provision that she says threatens an ongoing collaborative process aimed at producing a new protection plan for Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act. Read More...

BAUCUS WARNS BP OF FIGHT OVER FLATHEAD COAL/METHANE PLANS Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 (PST)

The British Petroleum Company can expect “a knock-down, drag-out fight” if it advances a proposal to tap coalbed methane seams in the Canadian Flathead, Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus said. Read More...

OREGON SEA GRANT STRESSES ‘RESILIENCE’ CONCEPT IN SALMON RECOVERY Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 (PST)

In a world in which instability, whether driven by people or nature, seems to be increasing, “resilience” is emerging as a key concept – a desirable characteristic of both natural and human systems and communities. Read More...

FEDS, OREGON, ALSEA WANT MAGISTRATE’S LISTING FINDINGS TOSSED Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 (PST)

The federal government, state of Oregon and Alsea Valley Alliance all say that a federal magistrates "findings and recommendations" regarding the state of the Oregon Coast coho salmon should be tossed out. Read More...

STUDY LOOKS AT SEDIMENTATION IMPACTS ON NORTHWEST ESTUARIES Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 (PST)

A team of Oregon State University researchers will use a $620,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to study the impacts of large sediment deposits on coastal estuaries during winter flood events and to document the recovery of the benthic communities. Read More...

FISH PASSAGE NOT INCLUDED IN FINAL HELLS CANYON HYDRO EIS Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 (PST)

The long-running pursuit of a new federal license to operate three dams in the Snake River's Hells Canyon entered a new phase this month sans a proposal to provide salmon passage to historic spawning grounds upstream. Read More...

SEEPAGE FROM BLACK ROCK PROJECT WOULD IMPACT HANFORD WATER Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 (PST)

Seepage from the envisioned Black Rock Reservoir in south-central Washington would likely course toward the nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation, raising water levels there and "mobilizing" contaminant concentrations that would bleed into the Columbia River, according to a technical report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Reclamation. Read More...

PARTIES ARGUE WHETHER NINTH CIRCUIT SHOULD RE-HEAR BIOP CASE Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 (PST)

The state of Idaho says U.S. courts' rationale for voiding the federal government's Columbia River basin salmon protection plan goes contrary to a Supreme Court ruling, as well as an appellate court order. Read More...

LOW FALL CHINOOK NUMBERS CLOSE MAINSTEM SPORT FISHERY Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 (PST)

A lower than anticipated return of upriver fall chinook salmon has cut short the sport harvest on the Columbia River mainstem, forcing a closure downstream of Bonneville Dam at the end of the day Tuesday (Sept. 18) and from Bonneville upstream to Pasco, Wash., Wednesday (Sept. 19). Read More...