Fish & wildlife Subbasin planning

Notice of opportunity to comment on subbasin plan draft amendments

(also see the request for comment on specific amendment process issues)
 

October 18, 2004

Dear Interested Parties:

On October, 13, 2004, the Council decided to release for public review and comment a set of 29 subbasin plan recommendations as draft amendments to the Council?s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The subbasin plan recommendations released as draft program amendments are for the following subbasins of the Columbia River Basin:

See links above or request copies on CD by calling the Council?s offices at 503-222-5161 or 800-452-5161.

Public comments and hearings

See blue sidebar for how to comment.

The Council scheduled public hearings in the following locations to accept oral and written comments on the 29 draft subbasin plan program amendments:

• Wednesday, Oct. 27: Wenatchee, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon
• Thursday, Oct. 28: Kalispell, Montana
• Wednesday, Nov. 3: Pendleton, Oregon
• Thursday, Nov. 4: Ontario, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho
• Monday, Nov. 8: Vancouver, Washington
• Tuesday, Nov. 9: Portland, Oregon
• Wednesday, Nov. 10: Hood River, Oregon
• Monday, Nov. 15: Clarkston, Washington
• Tuesday, Nov. 16: Coeur d?Alene, Idaho

See specific locations and schedules. Check this link regularly, as we will post any updated information there.

The Council will consider all comments received on the draft program amendments as it decides whether to adopt them as amendments to the program. The Council tentatively has scheduled the decision on program adoption of these 29 subbasin plans at its December 2004 meeting in Portland.

Additional request for comment is forthcoming

The Council is aware that there is a set of issues or questions that have been identified to date that do not apply to the particular subbasin plan recommendations identified above, but rather, relate to the subbasin planning process generally, the use of subbasin plans once adopted, and what, if any, future planning steps the Council anticipates. The Council is in the process of developing a paper that will be released in the next few days that frames those broader issues and invites comment on them. We intend to coordinate the schedule for comment on that issue paper with the comment period specified above for the subbasin plans.

Background

In 2000, the Council began a comprehensive revision of the fish and wildlife program. First, the Council amended the program by adopting a framework of vision, objectives and strategies at different geographic scales (basinwide, ecological province, subbasin), tied together with a consistent scientific foundation. The Council also adopted basinwide provisions and described how it proposed to add more specific objectives and measures to the program through integrated subbasin plans for the tributary subbasins of the Columbia and for specific mainstem reaches. The draft amendments now proposed for adoption would add subbasin plans to the general, basinwide provisions of the program as the next step in the comprehensive revision.

On August 12, 2002, the Council solicited recommendations for amendments to the program at the subbasin level from the region?s state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes, and others, as required by the Northwest Power Act. At the same time, the Council worked with a broad range of interests in the region and developed a non-binding ?Technical Guide for Subbasin Planners? to help ensure that plans had a consistent format and content. The Council also worked with the Bonneville Power Administration to secure funding support for planning groups, the first time that funding has been made available to help develop fish and wildlife program amendment recommendations. Subbasin planners were asked to develop subbasin plans that incorporate a technical assessment, an inventory of past and present activities, and then a management plan consisting of a vision, biological objectives and implementation strategies for the subbasin.

On May 28, 2004, the Council received recommendations for subbasin plans in 59 subbasins from various planning entities. The Council made those recommendations available for public review and comment, including review by a team of independent scientists. The public comment period on the recommendations ended on August 12, 2004. The Council received an extensive set of comments. The Council staff and Council also reviewed the plans during the comment period for consistency with standards in the Northwest Power Act for program amendments and with the provisions in the 2000 Program.

After its review of the recommendations and the comments on recommendations, the Council concluded that one set of subbasin plan recommendations was ready for release for public review as draft amendments to the fish and wildlife program ? the 29 subbasin plans currently proposed for adoption. To be more precise, the Council proposes to adopt the management plan portions of these subbasin plans as parts of the program. The underlying technical assessments and inventories will be placed in an appendix to the program.

Also based on its review, the Council concluded that the other subbasin plan recommendations not in this first group of 29 needed further work before they were ready to propose for public review as draft amendments. See the schedule for consideration of the other subbasin plans.

Thank you for your interest in the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and its fish and wildlife program.

Sincerely,

Stephen L. Crow, Executive Director

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