Fish and
Wildlife
PPC members are keenly interested in fish and
wildlife recovery efforts in the Columbia River
Basin. BPA is responsible for funding a number
of programs, including the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council’s fish and wildlife program,
and for covering the costs of many federal and
state hatchery facilities. PPC members, particularly
those with their own hydro projects, are also directly
affected by fish and wildlife conservation and
recovery requirements.
More information on the region’s fish and wildlife programs is available at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s web site, www.nwcouncil.org, the Federal Caucus web site, www.salmonrecovery.gov, and at Northwest RiverPartners, www.nwriverpartners.org.
Recent Fish & Wildlife Information
 PPC Files Comments on Fish & Wildlife proposal on NW Regional Power and Conservation Council....Read comments (pdf)
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The fish
ladder at Bonneville Dam provides a route
for migrating adult salmon.
Photo source:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
Summary Judgment of 2004 BiOp
On May 26, 2005, Judge James Redden found the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Fisheries Service’s (NOAA Fisheries) 2004 Biological
Opinion (BiOp) for the Federal Columbia River Power
System (FCRPS) to be legally invalid. [Court
Order on 2004 BiOp]. In his ruling, Judge
Redden concluded that the 2004 BiOp was legally
flawed for four reasons: (1) the 2004 BiOp's attempt
to limit consultation to an analysis of the impacts
of discretionary FCRPS operations (excluding nondiscretionary
operations) was inconsistent with the ESA; (2)
the 2004 BiOp's analysis of the environmental baseline
conditions was inadequate; (3) the 2004 BiOp's
critical habitat analysis was inadequate in addressing
the short and long term recovery needs of ESA listed
species; and (4) the 2004 BiOp jeopardy analysis
inadequately considered the recovery requirements
for ESA listed species. The judge remanded the
BiOp back to NOAA Fisheries to remedy the problems.
The responsible federal agencies are now engaged
in a process to develop a new BiOp that will pass
muster with the court. The court originally
indicated that the federal entities have one year
to produce a new biological opinion, but that deadline
has been extended. For more information on this
process, see www.salmonrecovery.gov.
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