Oregon files complaint to save salmon

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon filed a supplemental complaint Tuesday against the latest federal proposal for operating Columbia and Snake river dams, seeking withdrawal of a plan submitted in May by Columbia River tribes and the Bonneville Power Administration.

The state says the plan lacks needed protections for salmon and steelhead.

U.S. District Judge James Redden rejected two previous proposals in 2002 and 2004 but has yet to rule on the latest one. Oregon also filed complaints over the previous proposals.

“The federal government may be satisfied with the number of wild salmon and steelhead in our rivers. I am not,” Gov. Ted Kulongoski said.

He said the latest plan lacks adequate protections for the survival and recovery of salmon and steelhead runs as required under the Endangered Species Act.

BPA spokesman Steve Wright defended the plan, saying it is “all about what will provide better fish survival and recovery, not just more flow and spill.”

“Our plan appropriately addresses the array of environmental issues our region is confronting, including greenhouse gas emissions, as it considered the mix of hydro and non-hydro measures necessary for salmon restoration,” Wright said.

Oregon is thus far the only state to file a complaint over the latest proposal, said Jillian Schoene, a Kulongoski spokeswoman.