Nw States, Tribes Talk Fish, Power Meeting Convened After Federal Process Fails

The four Northwest governors joined leaders of 13 American Indian tribes and a top White House official Tuesday in proposing a new system for governing salmon recovery and hydroelectric power generation in the Columbia River basin.

The announcement came at the end of what the participants termed a historic 2-1/2-hour conference called by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

The aim was to piece together a new decision-making system after the state of Montana and the four tribes with treaty rights to Columbia River fish withdrew from the existing federal process, alleging that their concerns were being ignored.

“I thought it was an important first step in refining the governance process,” Idaho Gov. Phil Batt said. “There was an element of urgency throughout all of this that hasn’t been there before.”

The meeting came as the federal government moves toward electricity deregulation and an overhaul of the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets the electricity generated by most of the Columbia and Snake river dams and pays for the rivers’ salmon-restoration efforts.

Also looming is possible legal action by tribes growing increasingly agitated about what they believe is the government’s refusal to sacrifice hydropower to benefit a fish they feel is sacred.

“If we don’t come to some consensus, if we don’t get our act together, a lot of these decisions are going to be made for us by someone else, perhaps in a way that none of us will be pleased with,” Washington Gov. Gary Locke said.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, which is charged with restoring endangered Snake River salmon runs, had formed an executive committee made up of the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, three federal agencies and the four tribes with treaty rights to Columbia River fish.

But that effort has fallen apart with the withdrawal of Montana and the tribes.

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot and Umatilla tribal chairman Donald Sampson said they hoped any new system would fairly consider their positions.

“I don’t think that Montanans are always heard,” Racicot said. “I don’t think that their concerns are always sensitively analyzed and I don’t think the decisions that are made reflect a balance and equilibrium for the region.”

Sampson said the tribes are preparing to take legal action if the attempt at regional consensus is not successful.