 The battle for Columbia Salmon comes to a head in Portland courtroom
by Matt Stansberry, Oregon Flyfishing Blog
November 23rd, 2009
In September, the Obama Administration endorsed a flawed salmon plan or BiOp, as it has been called, for the Columbia River system. The day is here now when Judge Redden will hear final arguments in the courtroom on the legality of this plan. Today, a group of advocates and fishermen are back in the federal court room in Portland and they are fighting for you, me and for the salmon and steelhead of the Northwest. One of those passionate fishermen is steelhead guide Jeff Hickman. Jeff grew up waist deep in Columbia tribs and has made a life guiding and fishing these same great rivers. He has followed closely the Columbia salmon fight for the last 10 years and like all of us, he is ready to see this situation be resolved once and for all.
I talked to Hickman this morning before he headed to the courthouse and asked him a few questions about today’s Court battle.
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 Redden raises new concern in salmon-dam case
by Rocky Barker
U.S. District Judge James Redden wrote a letter Thursday that set the stage for his hearing Nov. 23 on the federal government’s biological opinion on the Columbia and Snake River dams.
The opinion is the federal government’s 10-year plan for operating the federal dams an the other measures it plans to take to offset the dams’ impact on 13 stocks of endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia watershed, a area larger than France. Environmentalists, fishermen, fishing businesses and the Nez Perce tribe have challenged the plan and earlier plans since 2001 in court.
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"River of Renewal" - Salmon, Dams, Orcas, and You
by Candace Calloway Whiting
The following is part one of a five part series on the intertwined fates of salmon in the Columbia and Snake Rivers and southern resident killer whales.
 The other night I just happened to catch on the PBS station KCTS the second half of an excellent documentary about the Klamath River, called "River of Renewal". I found the part that I watched to be coherent and insightful, and regret that I missed the first half. Although the Klamath River runs through Oregon/California, the film covers the same issues we face here in Washington as we consider removal of dams in the Snake/Columbia river basin.
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 Wild Salmon & Steelhead NewsNovember 2009
In this Issue:
1. What’s Next for Obama Salmon Plan: Salmon and Fishing Advocates go to court on Monday, November 23rd.
2. 350.org and Climate Action: Connections for the Snake River.
3. The Rogue Running Free: Savage Rapids Dam removal
4. A Great Pairing: Columbia Winery “stomps” for Save Our Wild Salmon
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Guest Opinion: Clean energy action crucial
by Don Barbieri
In September, the U.S. Senate began deliberations on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, following passage of a comprehensive climate and energy bill by the House of Representatives in June. Regional energy experts led by Sen. Maria Cantwell and people I trust from Avista and Itron have convinced me that now is the time for the Inland Northwest to stand up for a clean energy economy. We have the resources and technology; we just need the national leadership to do what is right and begin a transition to a clean energy economy.
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The River Why's David James Duncan on water, salmon and the policies that are killing them
by David James Duncan
1859 Editor, Kevin Max, caught up with David James Duncan, the author of The River Why, to explore a raft of ideas related to water. In the fall issue, now at retailers, Duncan tackles the notion of Water as Soul. That piece alone is a wonderful journey across the world, back through time and finally into the flesh of Duncan's mind. In this interview, he wades deeper into political, environmental and the film based on his novel.
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Saving an American icon
Removing four dams on the lower Snake River is essential to restoring salmon populations
by Paul Johnson
Salmon are much more than a fish—they are an American icon, an integral part of our fishing heritage and the epicenter of our salmon economy. Our natural world—rivers, forests and wildlife—depend on wild salmon for their very existence.
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SALMON ADVOCATES AND FISHERMEN JOIN 170 NATIONS IN LARGEST DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION IN HISTORY
On Saturday, October 24, people and organizations from around the world will take action aimed at bringing attention to the number 350. Scientists have insisted in recent years that 350 parts per million is the most carbon dioxide (CO2) the planet can safely have in the atmosphere. The current CO2 concentration is 390 parts per million. Pat Ford, Executive Director of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition had this to say about the planned events...
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Obama’s salmon plan repackages Bush’s failed effort
October 17th, 2009
Unlike as optimistically characterized by Steve Wright, administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, in his Oct. 10 guest viewpoint, “Right plan can save salmon and the hydroelectric dams,” the Northwest’s Columbia River salmon problems are far from over, and the battle to prevent their extinction is far from won.
On Sept. 14, the Obama administration delivered its own much anticipated salmon strategy for the Columbia and Snake rivers. Unfortunately, after a four-month review, Obama’s salmon team has merely adopted the previously rejected Bush administration salmon plan as its own, with only a few minor improvements.
Worst of all, the Bush-turned-Obama plan just embraces failed recovery goals of the past. Keeping expectations low, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco assures us the plan will “prevent further declines.” In other words, ratepayers and taxpayers all up and down the West Coast will remain on the hook for roughly $1 billion a year for at least the next 10 years to — at best — merely maintain Columbia Basin wild salmon at their already seriously imperiled levels.
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Another flawed plan to protect salmon
 by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
October 9th, 2009
"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."
I wrote the above words more than a year ago when the federal government presented its 2008 biological opinion regarding a salmon plan for the Columbia and Snake Rivers' hydropower system. I believed the 2008 plan, like the many plans before it, was legally and technically flawed because it sought to preserve status-quo dam operations at the expense of endangered wild fish. And, as with the previous plans, I challenged it in federal court.
The Obama administration recently filed a supplement to the 2008 biological opinion called the Adaptive Management Implementation Plan. After reviewing the plan, the question remains: Does this supplement actually correct the legal and scientific deficiencies in the 2008 opinion?
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