Hanford Reach Gets Designation

Fri., Oct. 13, 1995

From Staff And Wire Reports

The Northwest Power Planning Council on Thursday unanimously endorsed designating the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River as a wild and scenic river.

The panel offered support for a proposal by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who wants to designate the reach as a recreational river, the least restrictive form of protection granted under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

In a letter sent to Murray and the rest of the Northwest congressional delegation, council members said the designation would help protect the Columbia River Basin’s last healthy run of spring and summer chinook salmon. At the same time, the step would preserve the public’s right to enjoy recreational opportunities at the site, the letter said.

The reach, which winds through the 560-square-mile Hanford Nuclear Reservation, is the state’s last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia above Bonneville Dam. xxxx

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Hanford Reach Gets Designation

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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