No big changes to Columbia salmon plan

PORTLAND – The Obama administration has made no major changes to a plan to protect endangered wild salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin.

The government on Thursday submitted revisions for a 2008 Bush-era biological plan to U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland.

Redden said in February that the plan likely violated the Endangered Species Act, but he gave the government three months to review new science that might strengthen it. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recommendations include studying salmon migration, monitoring water temperatures and other effects of climate change, and creating a team of fisheries managers to resolve potential harm to wild salmon runs by hatchery fish.

“After we reviewed all the information we’ve accumulated over the last three months, only modest changes were necessary,” said Bruce Suzumoto, NOAA Fisheries assistant regional administrator for hydropower.

Redden twice before had found that federal plans to balance cheap hydroelectric power against the survival of wild salmon violated the Endangered Species Act.

In February, Redden had warned that he would view with “heightened skepticism” efforts to deal with the issues superficially.