Comments On Corps’ Draft EIS for 13 Willamette Valley Dams Question Whether Plan Avoids Jeopardy For ESA-Listed Salmonids
March 23rd, 2023
A massive 2,000 page draft environmental impact statement on how Willamette River Valley dams impact threatened salmon, steelhead and bull trout is flawed and does not address one of its own primary goals, which is meeting obligations under the Endangered Species Act to avoid jeopardizing the existence of listed species, according to several groups and agencies that submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in late February.
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Northwest Washington Study: With Less Salmon To Eat, Bald Eagles Showing Up On Dairy Farms To Get Food From Farm By-Products
March 22nd, 2023
Bald Eagles and dairy farmers exist in a mutually beneficial relationship in parts of northwestern Washington State. According to a new study, this "win-win" relationship has been a more recent development, driven by the impact of climate change on eagles' traditional winter diet of salmon carcasses, as well as by increased eagle abundance following decades of conservation efforts.
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With End Of La Nina, Ocean Conditions Likely Trending Downward For Salmon, Steelhead Survival, Mass Of Warm Water In North Pacific
March 16th, 2023
Good years in the Pacific Ocean for salmon and steelhead, as the last couple of years have been, are an anomaly. Instead, ocean conditions are generally trending downward, according to a NOAA Fisheries scientist briefing the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
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All This Wet Weather Yet Columbia River Basin Water Supply Forecast For Salmon Migrating Season Still Below Normal
March 9th, 2023
For the third straight month of forecasts, water supplies in the Columbia River basin are predicted to be far below normal. That could indicate low streamflows this summer, impacting juvenile and adult salmon and steelhead passage.
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USFWS Releases Draft Recovery For Oregon Spotted Frog, Most Aquatic Frog In PNW; Over 76 Percent Of Range Gone
March 9th, 2023
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced the availability of a draft recovery plan for the Oregon spotted frog, which has lost most of its habitat from southern British Columbia, through the Cascades, and into southern Oregon.
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NOAA Fisheries To Conduct Status Review Of Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead To Determine If ESA Listing Warranted
February 17th, 2023
NOAA Fisheries says it will consider listing Olympic Peninsula summer and winter steelhead threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. All populations of steelhead on the peninsula have continued to decline since 2017.
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Concerning Drop In White Sturgeon Abundance Prompts Fisheries Managers To Recommend No Retention Fishing Below Bonneville Dam
February 8th, 2023
Oregon and Washington fishery agencies announced they will not propose commercial or recreational white sturgeon fishing this year downstream of Bonneville Dam due to a projected low abundance of legal-sized fish, according to a joint status report released this week by the states.
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Draft Report Out For Comment On Improving Flows, Water Temps In Yakima River Delta To Aid Salmon, Steelhead
February 2nd, 2023
In partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for public feedback on a draft report studying proposed next steps to restore flows for fish in the Yakima River delta.
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EPA Issues Ruling Blocking Pebble Mine In Bristol Bay, Discharges Would Have ‘Adverse Effects On Salmon Fisheries’
February 2nd, 2023
The Environmental Protection Agency this week issued a Final Determination under the Clean Water Act to help protect Southeast Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the most productive wild salmon ecosystem in the world, from disposal of dredged or fill materials associated with developing the Pebble Mine.