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Job announcement: Law Clerk / Contract Legal Assistance

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking a law student or recent law graduate to assist, on a contractual basis, the Council’s General Counsel and Fish and Wildlife Division as the Council works to amend its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.

The Council is an interstate agency formed by the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington pursuant to the 1980 Northwest Power Act. The Council consists of eight members, two each appointed by the governors of the four states, with a small central staff based in Portland, Oregon. The person we hire will work with the two attorneys in the central staff’s Legal Division.

Among other responsibilities, the Power Act directs the Council to adopt and periodically amend a program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development and operation of hydroelectric projects on the Columbia River. The current version of the program is the Council’s 2000 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, as supplemented by the 2003 Mainstem Amendments and by 57 subbasin plans adopted in 2004-05. The federal agencies that manage or regulate the hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River implement the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program, in particular the Bonneville Power Administration which expends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on program implementation.

Earlier this year, the Council began a process to amend its Fish and Wildlife Program. Section 4h of the Northwest Power Act structures a program amendment process in terms of both procedural requirements and substantive criteria. For further details about the Fish and Wildlife Program amendment process, and to view a copy of the Council’s request for recommendations, go here. Amendment recommendations are due to the Council on April 4, 2008. One of the key issues in this amendment process will be how to integrate the federal Endangered Species Act requirements for listed fish and wildlife into the region’s broad fish and wildlife mitigation program.

This is a full-time position assisting the Council and staff through the amendment process, beginning in early April or shortly thereafter, and continuing at least through 2008. Pay will be competitive. Candidates must possess the ability to analyze a mass of information and summarize the key points, as well as the ability to write clearly and concisely. The work should be exciting, on the cutting edge of public policy, science, and law in the Columbia Basin.

Applicants should submit a letter of interest, resume, writing sample, and references as soon as possible to:

General Counsel
851 SW 6th Ave, Suite 1100
Portland, OR 97204

If using e-mail, please submit all documents in Microsoft Word. We will begin reviewing applications March 18, 2008, with the goal of having the position filled by April 15, 2008. For further information, please call John Shurts or Sharon Ossmann, Director of Finance and Administration, at 503-222-5161 or 800-452-5161.