A plan to ease the worlds largest Caspian tern colony downriver as
a first step toward ridding the Columbia River estuary of the salmon-hungry
birds was accepted, grudgingly, Wednesday by the Northwest Power Planning
Council.
The Council indicated six weeks ago, in a letter from Chairman Todd
Maddock, that it wanted the terns impact on migrating salmon smolts reduced
to no more than 5 percent and suggested measures to prevent any nesting
in the estuary. But that goal is not achievable, or
