Corps Releases Draft EIS For 13 Willamette Basin Dams Intended To Aid ESA-Listed Salmon, Steelhead; Drawdowns, Structural Changes, Less Power
December 2nd, 2022
Operations at thirteen federal dams in the Willamette River basin may soon be altered to aid threatened upper Willamette River spring Chinook, winter steelhead, and bull trout. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dams, released a draft operations and maintenance programmatic environmental impact statement late last week for public review until January 19, 2023.
Read the Full Article
Lawsuit Filed Demanding USFWS Develop A National Gray Wolf Recovery Plan
December 2nd, 2022
The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit today challenging what it says is the “failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a national gray wolf recovery plan under the Endangered Species Act.”
Read the Full Article
Groups File Lawsuit To Force USFWS To Give Montana’s Arctic Grayling ESA Protections; Listing Rejected In 2020
October 27th, 2022
Conservationists filed a formal notice this week of their intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for once again denying Montana’s Arctic grayling population Endangered Species Act protections. Arctic grayling is a freshwater fish in the same family (Salmonidae) as salmon, trout, and whitefish.
Read the Full Article
USFWS Signs Agreement To Determine In 2024 If Cuckoo Bumblebee Deserves ESA Listing; Last Sighting 2017 In Oregon
October 27th, 2022
In response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed this week to a deadline of December 2024 to determine whether Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebees warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Read the Full Article
NOAA Fisheries Finalizes ‘Rebuilding’ Report To Inform Dialogue On Columbia River Basin Salmon Restoration
October 6th, 2022
NOAA Fisheries has finalized a report that identifies actions that the agency says have the greatest likelihood of making progress toward rebuilding populations of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin to “healthy and harvestable levels.” The agency had released a draft in July for limited comments.
Read the Full Article
Corps Revokes Permit Over Lake Pend Oreille Marina, Housing Development Due To Impacts On Listed Bull Trout
September 29th, 2022
In response to litigation from the Center for Biological Diversity and Idaho Conservation League, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to revoke its permit for a marina and lakeside housing development at the mouth of Trestle Creek on Lake Pend Oreille due to impacts on bull trout listed under the Endangered Species Act. The creek accounts for more than half of the annual bull trout spawning sites in the Pend Oreille Basin.
Read the Full Article
Idaho Power, Snake River Waterkeeper Settle Over Brownlee Dam Operating Without Clean Water Permit; Mitigation Funds Go To Nez Perce Tribe
September 8th, 2022
An Idaho U.S. District Judge Wednesday approved a consent decree between Snake River Waterkeeper and Idaho Power Company that will see more than $500,000 go to the Nez Perce Tribe for projects enhancing water quality in the Snake River basin.
Read the Full Article
Water Quality For Fish: Oregon Says Warm Water ‘Top Source Of Pollution,’ EPA To Update Washington’s Toxin Criteria
September 8th, 2022
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week approved Oregon’s water quality report on temperature in the state’s waters. Also last week, a Washington federal court ordered the EPA to set in motion an update on that state’s water quality criteria for 17 toxins known to harm salmon and steelhead, as well as Southern Resident killer whales that depend on them.
Read the Full Article
NOAA Taking Comments From Fisheries Managers On Salmon Rebuilding Report Key To Administration’s Collaborative Recovery Efforts
August 11th, 2022
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.