2. Idaho's Todd Maddock will lead Council in 1999
Contact: Todd Maddock, Chairman 208-798-8956

3. Council selects three new ISRP members
Contact: Chip McConnaha ISRP coordinator 800-452-5161

Bill Muir, a researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said survival of juvenile Snake River salmon migrating past the eight dams of the lower Snake and Columbia rivers is as high today, or higher, than it was in the early 1960s, when only four dams were in place -- Ice Harbor on the Snake, and McNary, The Dalles and Bonneville on the Columbia. Muir said a significant portion of that improvement can be attributed to passage improvements at the dams.

As for the declining return rate of adult fish, precise reasons are not clear but poor ocean conditions, overharvest, predation, delayed mortality and other unknown factors, are likely causes, Muir said. Even so, the number of adult fish likely would be even lower if survival of juvenile fish were not as high as it is, he said.

In-river survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead (those not transported by barge around the dams) through the lower Snake and Columbia rivers is between 50 and 60 percent, with survival at and between specific dams often measuring above 90 percent, Muir said.

"We hear a lot of criticism for failing to achieve results from our efforts to recover salmon and steelhead, and most recently for the ongoing work to improve passage conditions at the dams," Council Chairman John Etchart said. "But clearly the research is encouraging. While we still have a long way to go, there is definitely improvement."

2. Council officers Todd Maddock, an Idaho member of the Northwest Power Planning Council, has been elected chair of the four-state fish and wildlife and energy planning agency for 1999. Maddock, of Lewiston, was appointed to the Council by Governor Phil Batt in 1995.

Maddock, who was vice chairman of the Council in 1998, replaces John Etchart of Montana. Etchart was elected Council chair three consecutive years, serving from 1996 through 1998.

Before being appointed to the Council, Maddock had a 35-year career in the Northwest forest products industry. The majority of that time was with Potlatch Corporation at Lewiston.

The Council also elected Larry Cassidy, a Washington member of the Council from Vancouver, vice chairman for 1999. Cassidy was appointed to the Council by Governor Gary Locke last fall. Cassidy is the president and owner of Flo-Rite Products Co. of Vancouver. He served as a member of the Washington Game Commission from 1973 to 1985 and was chairman from 1977 to 1981.

3. Independent Scientific Review Panel The Council appointed three scientists to the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) to replace three who resigned for various reasons, largely connected with work load. The scientists were nominated by the National Research Council.

The ISRP is a panel of 11 scientists appointed by the Council under the authority of a 1996 amendment to the Northwest Power Act to review fish and wildlife recovery projects proposed for funding by the Bonneville Power Administration through the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Recently, Congressional report language expanded the range of ISRP review to include fish and wildlife costs that Bonneville reimburses to other agencies, especially the Corps of Engineers.

The three new ISRP members are: -- Dr. Dennis Lettenmaier of the University of Washington, a civil engineer and hydrologist with experience in climatological analysis of hydrologic cycles. -- Dr. William Smoker of the University of Alaska, whose specialty is aquaculture, fish hatcheries and fish life histories. -- Dr. Richard Whitney, University of Washington (retired) and a member of the Independent Scientific Advisory Board, a panel of independent scientists who advise both the Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service.