LITIGATION STALLS SEA LION KILLS; NON-LETHAL REMOVAL ALLOWED Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

An agreement submitted this week in federal court would postpone planned actions to kill California sea lions feeding on migrating salmon below the lower Columbia River's Bonneville Dam but allow the marine mammals' capture and transfer to zoos and aquariums across the country. Read More...

LISTED STELLER SEA LIONS INCREASING TAKE OF COLUMBIA'S UNLISTED WHITE STURGEON Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

More spring chinook salmon are beginning to show up at the lower Columbia's Bonneville Dam and, right on cue, the numbers of predatory California sea lions present below the hydro project are growing as well. Read More...

SPRING CHINOOK FISHING HOT; NEW TANGLE NET DATA COULD BOOST COMMERCIAL CATCH Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

Beleaguered non-tribal commercial fishers on the lower Columbia River received some good news this week with the assessment that the so-called "tangle" nets used in spring chinook salmon harvests in recent years cause less mortality than previously believed. Read More...

BRIEFINGS COMPLETE IN NINTH CIRCUIT WILD VS. HATCHERY LISTING CASES Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

Did Congress intend that hatchery-reared salmon and steelhead be treated -- during consideration of a stock's need for federal protections -- as equals to kin spawned in Columbia River basin rivers and streams? Read More...

NEW FEDERAL REPORT PROMOTES BUILDING MARINE PROTECTED AREAS Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

Experts say in a new federal report that progress is being made nationally in the move towards a system of marine protected areas. Read More...

COMMENTS IN ON YAKIMA WATER STORAGE OPTIONS; SOME FOCUS ON SEISMOLOGY ISSUES Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials have begun to sift through a mountain of comments on its Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study Draft Planning Report/Environmental Impact Statement -- a look at options for boosting water supply that includes a Black Rock Reservoir alternative which would cost an estimated $4.5 billion. Read More...

CORPS BOOSTS MID-WILLAMETTE FLOWS TO MIMIC NATURAL CONDITIONS, IMPROVE HABITAT Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

A human-caused "pulse" of water has begun gushing down the Middle Fork Willamette River as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, searches for flow strategies that will improve conditions for fish and wildlife downstream. Read More...

BPA PROVIDES $2.4 MILLION FOR WILLAMETTE VALLEY CONSERVATION EASEMENT Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

A 199-acre tract of land zoned for two-acre residential development near Philomath, Ore., will now be permanently protected wildlife habitat, thanks to the efforts of the landowner, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Greenbelt Land Trust. Read More...

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GRAY WOLF DELISTED; INCLUDES EASTERN WASHINGTON, OREGON Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 (PST)

The northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf on Friday, March 28, was officially removed from the federal list of endangered species. The states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming will assume full management authority for the continued conservation of the gray wolf. Read More...