Groups Sue Feds For Salmon Failures

Fri., March 15, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Idaho conservation and sportfishing groups sued the federal government Thursday for failing to follow its own plan to protect endangered salmon and declining steelhead populations.

The groups claim that, in 1995, three government agencies failed to consistently meet the flow targets meant to help young fish migrate past eight dams in the Snake and Columbia rivers.

As a result, they say, millions of fish died while passing through hydropower turbines.

“The administration has not yet begun to move in the direction of a long-term solution” to declining fish populations, said Mitch Sanchotena of Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited, one of eight groups filing the suit. “They’ve broken their promise to Idaho’s fishermen and they’ve broken the law.”

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court against the National Marine Fisheries Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation. , DataTimes

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Groups Sue Feds For Salmon Failures

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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