Salmon Recovery and Dam Removal: Introduction and Links
There
are several federal land and water management agencies currently involved
in setting policy to recover 12 ESA listed species of salmon and steelhead
fish. Dam removal is one of the proposals
put forward by the Federal Caucus to achieve salmon recovery.
Army Corps of Engineers developed a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for management of four dams on the Lower Snake River that may assist 4
of the listed species. Army Corps of Engineers is also worked up a draw down study for the
John Day dam. UPDATE: George Frampton, the head of
the Council on Environmental Quality, reported to Congress that the breaching of
the four dams is being removed from consideration while other steps for salmon
recovery are affected and further study is completed. The White House
wants to revisit the dam breaching proposal in 5 to 10 years if other steps
fail. There will probably be some lawsuits from the greenies over this
one.
The Federal Caucus is comprised of National Marine Fisheries Service,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, Environmental
Protection Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. The Caucus is working on what they call
the "Four-H Paper" which will set public policy for managing Habitat, Hatcheries,
Harvest and Hydropower in the Columbia River drainage.
The Forest Service and The BLM are working on the Interior Columbia
Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBMEP). This project will set policy
for FS and BLM lands in the entire Columbia drainage including parts of
Montana.
Go to our Salmon Recovery page to learn what MFMU thinks about some
aspects of this planning.
For more info from the Federal Caucus:
Call 1-509-358-7415
Write Federal Caucus Comment Record
c/o BPA-PL
707 West Main Street
Suite 500
Spokane, WA 99201
Web site www.bpa.gov/federalcaucus
For Army Corps projects: www.nww.usace.army.mil
For the Forest Service Eco project www.icbemp.gov
For National Marine Fishery Service Salmon Information
www.nwr.noaa.gov
For science information
www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/cri
www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/pubs/nwfscpubs.html
For multi-species framework?
www.nwframework.org
MFMU critique of the proposals
