Council seeks public comments On Draft 2008 Fish and Wildlife Program

August 29, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Council on Thursday issued its Draft 2008 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program for public review and comment through October 30, 2008. Eleven public hearings are scheduled throughout the Northwest.

“In this draft program, the Council brings together federal, state, and tribal actions to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin,” Council Chair Bill Booth said. “This will ensure that the region’s significant investment in fish and wildlife is focused, coordinated, and scientifically credible.”

The draft program is the first complete revision since 2004-05, when the Council added 65 locally developed management plans for tributary subbasins and mainstem river reaches. The current amendment process began in November 2007 when the Council called for recommendations from the region’s fish and wildlife agencies and Columbia River Basin Indian tribes. A total of 65 recommendations were received, and these were made available for public comment. Using the recommendations as a foundation, and informed by the comments, the Council and its staff developed the Draft 2008 Program. The Council plans to vote on final approval of the program in December.

Key themes of the draft program include:

• Emphasizing implementation of fish and wildlife projects based on needs identified in subbasin management plans and also on actions described in federal biological opinions on hydropower operations, hatcheries, and harvest and the 2008 Fish Accords signed by federal agencies, Indian tribes, and the states of Idaho and Montana.
• Continuing the Council’s commitment to independent scientific review of all projects proposed for funding through the program, including those actions described in the biological opinions and the 2008 Fish Accords.
• Focusing on protecting and restoring habitat in order to rebuild healthy, naturally producing fish and wildlife populations. The program also calls for further review of specific issues such as the impacts of global climate change, toxic substances, and invasive species on fish, wildlife, and habitat.

Subbasin management plans in the program provide a coordinated and integrated home for fish and wildlife actions across the basin. Federal and state agencies and Indian tribes are working with local partners to expand subbasin plans into draft and final recovery plans for ESA-listed populations.

In the 2008 Fish Accords, Bonneville and other federal agencies committed to extensive, 10-year implementation plans, with associated actions and funding commitments, based on the foundation built by the Council’s program over the last 26 years. This foundation includes water management and fish-passage measures (in the original, 1982 Program), mainstem and off-site mitigation measures (1987 and subsequent program amendments), the program framework (2000 amendment), and the subbasin plans (2004-2005 amendment). With the additional funding commitments in the 2008 Fish Accords, funding of projects through the Council’s program likely will total about $230 million per year beginning in 2009.

Thus, in the Draft 2008 Program, the Council’s focus turns from planning to implementation and performance. The draft program:

• Increases project performance and fiscal accountability by establishing reporting guidelines and using adaptive management to guide decision-making
• Calls for a renewed regional effort to develop quantitative biological objectives for the program
• Commits to a periodic and systematic exchange of science and policy information; and
• Emphasizes an expanded monitoring and evaluation framework coupled with a commitment to use the information obtained to make better decisions

The legal authority for the program is in the Northwest Power Act of 1980, which directs the Council to develop a program to “protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including related spawning grounds and habitat, on the Columbia River and its tributaries … affected by the development, operation, and management of [hydroelectric projects] while assuring the Pacific Northwest an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.” The Act directs the Council to review the program at least every five years. The Act also directs the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal power marketing agency that sells electricity generated at federal dams in the Columbia River Basin, to fund the Council’s program.

Contacts:

• , Chair, 208-660-4127
• , Information Officer, 503-222-5161