U.S. will appeal ruling on plan to save salmon

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The Bush administration said Wednesday it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that its plan for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams safe for salmon violated the Endangered Species Act.

The decision to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes as NOAA fisheries, the agency that crafted the plan, and other federal agencies continue to work with Indian tribes, conservation groups and others to come up with a new plan that is better for fish.

At issue is how much water will be routed through turbines, creating electricity sold by the Bonneville Power Administration, and how much will be spilled over dams to help juvenile salmon migrate to the ocean. Increasing the spill, as Indian tribes and conservation groups want, means less water for electricity production.

“Irrespective of the outcome of any appeal, we will continue to work through the collaborative process on the hydropower system, and that seems to be going reasonably well,” said NOAA Fisheries spokesman Brian Gorman from Seattle.

Last May, U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland found that the Bush administration’s plan to improve the Columbia Basin hydroelectric dam system violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect salmon, noting that salmon were in serious decline with no evidence of recovery.

Redden rejected NOAA Fisheries’ contention that the dams were part of the landscape, and removing them was not an option.