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Notice of opportunity to comment on Track 2 subbasin plan draft amendments
Dear Interested Parties:
On December 22, 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:
Use 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 has scheduled public hearings (see locations
and specific schedule) to accept oral and written comments on the 29
draft subbasin plan program amendments:
- Boise, Thursday, January 6 (Boise, Payette, Weiser, Powder,
Burnt, Lower Mid-Snake).
- Clarkston, Wednesday, January 12 (Clearwater, Imnaha, Snake
Hells Canyon, Walla Walla).
- Vancouver, Tuesday, January 18 in conjunction with the
Council meeting (Lower Columbia, Columbia Estuary)
- Hood River, Monday, January 24 (Deschutes, Klickitat, Little
White Salmon, Lower Mid-Columbia, Wind).
- Wenatchee, Wednesday, January 26 (Entiat, Methow, Okanogan,
Wenatchee, Yakima)
- Kalispell, Wednesday, January 27 (any subbasin)
Check this page regularly as the above dates and locations may change.
The public comment period for the above plans closes on January 31,
2005.
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 February 2005 meeting in
Portland.
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. Twenty-three
were adopted at the December 2004 Council meeting. To be more precise,
the Council adopted 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.
The Council concluded last September that some subbasin plan
recommendations not in this first group that was adopted into the program
December 15th needed further work before they were ready to
propose for public review as draft amendments. Revisions to 29 of these
plan recommendations (listed at the top of this notice) have been
completed and the Council finds them now ready for public review as draft
amendments to the fish and wildlife program. It is this second set of
plans, revised since first submitted on May 28, 2004, that the Council is
seeking comment on through this notice. Five other plans are on yet a
different schedule for adoption. See the complete schedule for
consideration of the other subbasin plans on the Council?s website.
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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