On the eve of a potential salmon fishing closure that would devastate coastal communities and fishing families in California and Oregon, a federal court today ruled that the Bush administration can not continue to strangle water flows in the Klamath River in years with average or below rainfall.

FERC's deadline for all interested parties in the Hells Canyon dams to file their recommendations for terms and conditions in the new license was January 26, 2006. The federal National Marine Fisheries Service - the agency charged with protecting migrating endangered salmon and steelhead - submitted a simple reservation of authority. In other words, the agency did nothing and failed in its responsibility to protect these endangered species.

Last week, the House Resources Committee approved a series of reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that will make it even more difficult to conserve and recover species. Richard Pombo's (R-CA) " Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" (H.R. 3824) lowers standards for species recovery, injects politics into how science is used in listing decisions, and relieves federal agencies of meaningful consultation requirements.

The Endangered Species Act directs two federal agencies to save endangered species in part by protecting the places the species needs to recover. On August 12, 2005, the federal government reinterpreted the Endangered Species Act and eliminated 80% of previously protected “critical” habitat for endangered salmon and steelhead.

The new Critical Habitat policy, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), proposed to remove all habitat it considers already protected by other agencies such as the Forest Service under its Northwest Forest Plan.

PG&E Put on Notice to Protect Threatened Spring-Run Chinook Salmon; Conservation and Fishing Organizations Say Butte Creek Hydroelectric Operations Require a Second Look

San Francisco - Conservation and fishing groups have launched a legal effort to protect the threatened Central Valley spring-run chinook salmon population that spawns in Butte Creek, one of state's last, and most vibrant, populations of spring-run chinook.

The California Hydropower Reform Coalition and Pacific Northwest region of the Hydropower Reform Coalition submitted comments this Friday, November 12, 2004 on the National Marine Fisheries Service's proposed hatchery policy.

The policy proposes to consider hatchery fish the same as wild fish under Endangered Species Act protections, and will downgrade the quality of protection measures for endangered fish in the hydropower licensing process.

You may have seen our billboards up in Sacramento (on I-80 East near Leisuretown), Seattle (corner of 4th and Cherry), and Portland (corner of Burnside and NW 22nd).

Whether or not you've seen the billboards, you should visit the Why Wild website to learn:

• Why wild salmon are special and important
• Why a proposed federal hatchery policy does not protect wild salmon
• What you can to restore protections to wild salmon.

On August 6th, FERC granted a petition requesting consultation with federal fish agencies over the impacts of Hells Canyon dams on endangered fish species.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued new 30-year licenses for five projects on the middle Snake River in Idaho on July 28, 2004. The new licenses were no longer held up by concerns over endangered species because the US. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a settlement with project owner Idaho Power Company over post-license issuance studies and possible remedial actions. Typically, protection measures come before license issuance, not after.

Court finds agency' s delay on ESA consultation petition “nothing less than egregious”

SEATTLE – Today, calling the agency' s delay “egregious,” a federal court ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to respond to a 1997 petition from conservation groups requesting that the agency consult with NOAA Fisheries on the adverse impacts the Hells Canyon Complex has on endangered salmon and steelhead.