Urgent and comprehensive large-scale actions in the Columbia River basin will be needed to meet mid-range salmon and steelhead abundance goals set by the Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force in 2020, according to a draft report by NOAA Fisheries released nearly a month ago by the White House. The agency is now taking comments until the end of the month on a report that could play a key role in the Biden Administration’s efforts to collaboratively move forward on Columbia/Snake river salmon recovery.
Latest News
EPA Announces $79 Million In Investments To Reduce Toxic Contaminants In Columbia River Basin
August 11th, 2022
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan Wednesday announced a $79 million investment from the infrastructure bill aimed at reducing toxic contaminants in the Columbia River Basin.
Idaho’s Draft State Wildlife Action Plan Starkly Details Climate Change Impacts On Fish/Wildlife; Heat, Drought, Early Runoff
August 11th, 2022
Idaho’s ten-year plan for conserving and managing the state’s most at-risk fish and wildlife and the habitat they depend on says that climate change is one of the stressors impacting all of the state’s animals and lands.
Federal Judge Says NOAA’s Approval Of Southeast Alaska Troll Salmon Fishery Fails To Protect ESA-Listed Salmon, Whales
August 11th, 2022
A Seattle federal district court judge ruled this week that NOAA Fisheries’ authorization of the Southeast Alaska troll fishery violated the Endangered Species Act by approving harvest levels that fail to protect Southern Resident killer whales and wild chinook listed under the ESA.
Anticipating Shasta Lake Water Too Hot For Sacramento River Salmon, Innovative Chilling Units At Hatchery Protecting ESA Chinook
August 11th, 2022
The Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are partnering to protect winter-run Chinook salmon in a crucial year of their life cycle at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery at Shasta Lake during the third consecutive drought year in California.
USFWS Report Says Reintroducing Sea Otters To Northern California, Oregon Feasible; No Recommendation, Next Steps Stakeholder Engagement
August 11th, 2022
Under a directive from Congress, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluated the feasibility of reintroducing sea otters to their historical range along the West Coast of the contiguous United States. The Service focused the assessment on northern California and Oregon, where potential sea otter reintroduction would have the greatest conservation value.
Rewilding The West? OSU Scientists, Others Propose More Wolves, Beavers, Less Livestock Grazing On Public Lands
August 11th, 2022
Oregon State University scientists are proposing management changes on western federal lands that they say would result in more wolves and beavers and would re-establish ecological processes. They suggest reducing by 29 percent the amount of western public lands allotted annually for livestock grazing.