Idaho Legislator Wants To Add To Power Council

An Idaho legislator thinks adding Wyoming and Canada to the Northwest Power Planning Council could give inland states a better hand against the coastal states of Washington and Oregon in preserving salmon.

“At this point, I’m convinced Washington and Oregon have too much influence on decision making,” state Rep. Charles Cuddy, D-Orofino, told council members Todd Maddock and Mike Field meeting in Orofino on Friday.

Cuddy said Wyoming’s control of the upper Snake River should entitle it to membership on the council. Adding Canada, he said, would reflect its contributions through the upper Columbia.

Cuddy also said he would put the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on equal footing with the National Marine Fisheries Service over endangered salmon. The federal salmon program, under the Endangered Species Act, now requires other agencies to defer to the Fisheries Service.

The Northwest Power Planning Council called Friday’s meeting to consult with groups about reforming the region’s salmon recovery efforts.

Maddock said the proposals are in response to Congress, which ordered the four-state panel to issue a report on regional fish and wildlife governance.

Giving the council greater control could force agencies such as the Fisheries Service to explain why they departed from a salmon recovery plan developed by the council, said Maddock, one of two Idaho representatives on the panel.

Field, the other Idaho representative, said he is hearing a consensus developing that Northwest residents would rather see the program under regional control.