Governor Challenges Federal Salmon Plan for Columbia River Basin

Press Release

Governor challenges federal salmon plan for Columbia River Basin

Federal plan continues flawed, inadequate analysis to justify hydro power operations

Governor Ted Kulongoski today announced that the State of Oregon will continue to press the Federal government for a true salmon recovery plan for the Columbia River Basin by filing a supplemental complaint against the most recent federal plan for operating dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers released last May. Specifically, the complaint requests that the U.S. District Court direct the Federal government to withdraw the plan.

"The State of Oregon has a long legacy of protecting our wild fish for future generations so they remain a vital part of our heritage, and this is a legacy worth fighting for," Governor Kulongoski said. "The Federal government may be satisfied with the number of wild salmon and steelhead in our rivers. I am not."

The Governor has found that the plan fails to provide adequate protections for the survival and recovery of salmon and steelhead runs as required under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Previous plans have also been struck down by the U.S. District Court in 2000 and 2004.

The State contends in today's filing, that the Federal government again has offered a plan driven by allegiance to justifying status quo hydro power operations, rather than providing for the survival and recovery of endangered Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead. Any dam improvements proposed in the plan are clouded by a failure to test benefits to fish prior to increasing power production.

Among the plan's most serious flaws, it substantially lowers the standard for evaluating whether hydro power operations jeopardize the survival and recovery of protected species, and it does so without adequate scientific basis. Under the new standard, the Federal government does not assess the necessary levels to achieve viable fish populations and risks letting species linger on the brink of extinction.

Flaws in the plan are so severe that it concludes half of the 13 fish populations currently under ESA protections are not jeopardized by current power system operations and that most populations do not require any improvements in their present status to avoid jeopardy.

The plan also diverts attention from necessary changes in the operation of the dams by focusing on hatcheries and tributary habitat improvements that are inadequate to recovering Oregon's wild fish and ignore the known harm of physically transporting juvenile smolts downstream. The proposed measures, similar to those outlined in the 2000 and 2004 plans, are now predicted to result in dramatically stronger improvements in fish runs than they were in the previous plans.

The Governor concluded, "I support efforts to secure funding for hatcheries, habitat and tribal infrastructure. But I take issue with the plan's lack of improvement and accountability in the hydro power system, which remains the primary constraint to wild fish recovery. What I am looking for is a plan that restores wild fish populations to viable and sustainable levels."

In addition to asking the U.S. District Court to direct the Federal government to withdraw the plan, the State encourages the Court to empanel independent experts to assist it in evaluating the efficacy of different available hydro power operations.

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