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The National Marine Fisheries Service today issued two biological opinions aimed at protecting badly depleted Pacific Northwest salmon stocks listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The first opinion seeks major improvements in the operation of the Columbia River hydropower system; the second bolsters protection of salmon habitat in 11 million acres of national forest managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
"These opinions represent a historic step forward in our effort to restore the salmon runs of the Columbia River basin," said William Stelle, director of the fisheries service's Northwest regional office in Seattle. "The issuance of these opinions represents a major two-pronged effort to make the hydropower system more fish friendly and to improve salmon habitat across federal lands. Both are essential for the long- term recovery of the Columbia basin stocks, and both represent our continuing commitment to the long-term health of the Pacific Northwest."
The two opinions are being issued in response to pending litigation over the actions of the hydropower system and the Forest Service. They are intended to end the litigation that has been associated with the operations of the forest lands and the hydropower system for months.
Several stocks of Snake River salmon have been classified as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The ESA requires any federal agency whose actions might jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species to consult with the agency that listed the species; in this case, the fisheries service.
The biological opinion on Forest Service lands addresses an injunction, stayed by the court from going into effect until March 15, that affects logging, mining and grazing in six national forests in Idaho. The opinion will also affect another court decision that has curtailed forest activities in eastern Washington and Oregon.
"These two biological opinions reflect a systematic and balanced approach to salmon protection," said Stelle. "We believe the Forest Service biological opinion will let logging, grazing or mining activities continue without unnecessary disruption. And it will bring about substantial and valuable protection of salmon habitat, which, if further degraded, would pose serious survival problems for these endangered fish."
Hydropower Opinion
The hydropower opinion reflects several changes from an earlier draft that was distributed in late January for comment and review by the Northwest states, Indian tribes and plaintiffs in a lawsuit.
It expands the anticipated spill program at the federal hydroelectric projects and results in more fish in the river when conditions are good and lower numbers of fish being transported by the barge system.
The hydropower opinion also clarifies when and how major drawdowns of the water from several reservoirs on the lower Snake River will occur if interim improvements do not sufficiently increase survival of juvenile salmon.
All three issues reflect changes sought by state and tribal fishery managers, but none will affect the overall costs of the operation -- estimated to be about $160 million annually -- beyond those anticipated in the earlier draft opinion. The fisheries service's cost estimate is about the same as a similar plan adopted by the Northwest Power Planning Council.
Stelle said the hydropower opinion will require more water to move salmon through the river system and change dam operations to increase survival of young fish moving through the dam facilities.
The opinion addresses all sources of mortality for juvenile salmon in the hydropower system and recommends improved water flow in the rivers, better transportation of young fish by barge around the system's dams, safer passage for young fish through the dams themselves and modifications to a number of hydropower operations and facilities.
The opinion also calls for conditions that would assure that there is as much water as possible stored in reservoirs by April 15 of each year, the start of the spring/summer downstream fish migration, to provide the maximum benefit to the fish.
In addition, the opinion sets limits to how much water can be drafted from each of three reservoirs in the hydropower system, Libby, Hungry Horse and Grand Coulee. By limiting how much water can be withdrawn from storage in the reservoirs, resident fish at the reservoirs will be protected.
LRMP Opinion
The fisheries service's biological opinion on federal forests addresses eight LRMPs, or land and resource management plans. The plans involve activities in the Boise, Challis, Nez Perce, Payette, Salmon, Sawtooth, Umatilla and Wallawa-Whitman national forests.
"We believe this biological opinion will satisfy the court that we have properly consulted with the Forest Service on its LRMPs and that there is no further need for an injunction," Stelle said.
That injunction, issued in early January, shut down major mining, grazing and timber-cutting activities east of the Cascade Mountains.
The opinion largely builds upon major improvements already in place through a joint Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management initiative known as Pacfish. Pacfish, adopted last week by the two land management agencies, is a joint effort at providing major protection for streams and rivers in the national forests.
Stelle said today's LRMP opinion supplements the Pacfish initiative by providing the Forest Service with additional guidelines for developing site-specific projects that will not harm critical salmon habitat.
Stelle added that the Forest Service opinion, which deals directly with habitat protection for salmon, is part of a larger area of responsibility for the fisheries service. "We must ensure that the necessary actions are being taken in both the hydrosystem and in the national forests," Stelle said, "because protection for salmon in only one of these areas will not lead to long-term survival and recovery."
The LRMPs provide general management direction of the Forest Service aimed at achieving broad multiple-use goals. As a consequence, the fisheries service has concluded that whether or not the LRMPs will jeopardize the continued existence of listed salmon depends on how the Forest Service manages site-specific forest activities, such as logging and mining, that will be subject to a separate consultation process between the two agencies.
The biological opinion is expected to result in protecting an existing network of well-distributed, interconnected watersheds containing the highest quality habitats for salmon. The existence of such "priority" watersheds, if they are managed to insure a very low risk to salmon, would offset other watersheds that may put salmon at a slightly higher risk.