Threatened Status Urged For Puget Sound Chinook

The National Marine Fisheries Service will propose that chinook salmon in Washington state’s Puget Sound and California’s Central Valley be listed under the Endangered Species Act, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The decisions are expected to lead to fundamental changes in the heavily populated areas, as steps are taken to protect the dwindling numbers of the fish from effects of development, fishing and pollution.

NMFS spokesman Brian Gorman said the chinook populations for Puget Sound would be proposed for a “threatened” designation under the act, while the Central Valley chinook, found in Northern California’s Sacramento and American rivers, would be proposed for an “endangered” listing.

The proposed listings, to be formally announced today, were expected. State, federal and local governments, Indian tribes and fishing interests have long discussed the weakening fish runs and the possibility the federal government could step in to save the salmon.

“There aren’t any surprises here,” Gorman said. “I don’t think anyone in regional government is going to be surprised that Puget Sound chinook are going to be listed.”

Nevertheless, the possible impacts from a listing are expected to be huge, since it would be the first time the Endangered Species Act was applied to a densely populated area like Puget Sound.

A chinook listing would require federal, state and local governments to regulate decisions about land and water use, ranging from how hydropower is generated to the location of new housing developments and requirements for sewage disposal.

In Washington, the proposed listing would affect 14 counties that border on the state’s inland marine waters. The region is home to two-thirds of the state’s 5.5 million residents, and efforts to protect the fish runs will hurt Puget Sound’s people in their pocketbooks, cars, kitchens and bathrooms, state officials say.

Protection measures could boost power, water and sewer bills; stall or kill federal, state and county road-improvement projects; and slap new limits on housing and commercial development in the region. State officials say mitigation efforts could cost billions of dollars.