The Council plans to take written public comment on the proposed projects and the scientists review through August 21 and oral comment through its work session in Spokane on August 26 and 27. The Council plans to make its final decision at its meeting in Seaside, Oregon, on September 16 and 17, 1997.

For more information:

Doug Marker, Senior Policy Coordinator 1-800-452-5161

That was one of 35 recommendations the Independent Scientific Review Panel made to the Council on Tuesday, July 15, in the panel's first annual review of fish and wildlife projects proposed for $127 million in funding through the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The Council created the panel last January in response to a 1996 amendment to the Northwest Power Act, the law that created the Council in 1980. Members of the scientific panel were nominated by the National Academy of Sciences.

In their review of projects proposed for funding in Fiscal Year 1998, which begins October 1, the scientists recommended that the Council not approve funding for construction and operation of new fish hatcheries until a comprehensive review of existing hatcheries addresses key issues, such as the ecology of the Columbia River and its estuary, the basin's carrying capacity (maximum number of fish it can support) and other limiting factors that influence salmon survival. The scientists said the Council also needs a better understanding of wild and naturally spawning fish populations in the Columbia River Basin and the potential impact of new hatcheries on those fish.

The scientists stopped short of calling for a ban on new hatcheries. They suggested the Council should evaluate proposals for new hatcheries and permit them to go forward only if the proponents demonstrate they have addressed those parts of the Council's program that deal with protection of wild and naturally spawning fish. The scientists? other recommendations concerned administration of the Council's program and specific measures addressing juvenile salmon migration, resident (non-ocean going) fish and wildlife.

?Fish and wildlife spending is constrained, and so it should be a great help to the Council to have an orderly, scientifically based review of the project selection process,? Council Chairman John Etchart of Montana said. ?It will lead to a better outcome for the region.?

The Council is responsible for preparing a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife, and related spawning grounds and habitat, that have been affected by the construction and operation of hydropower dams in the Columbia River Basin. The Council's program is funded by the federal Bonneville Power Administration, which sells the electricity generated at the federal dams.

Every year since 1995, the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority, an association of the region's state, tribal and federal fish and wildlife agencies, has recommended recovery projects to the Council for priority implementation. Currently, the annual budget for these projects is $127 million.

The Independent Scientific Review Panel studies the proposed projects to determine whether they are: 1) consistent with the Council's fish and wildlife program; 2) based on sound scientific principles; 3) beneficial to fish and wildlife; and 4) developed with clearly defined objectives and outcomes with provisions for monitoring and evaluating results.

The scientists? recommendations, and the project proposals, will be the subject of a public comment period that will last through August 26 (written comments are due August 21). The recommendations, and the scientific review, are advisory to the Council, which has ultimate responsibility for recommending projects to Bonneville for funding. The Council plans to make its final recommendations on September 16.