Related links: How to comment and public hearings schedule

October 14, 2004

Twenty-nine draft plans that would guide efforts to mitigate the impacts of hydropower dams on fish and wildlife in Columbia River tributaries and parts of the mainstem river were approved for public comment Wednesday by the Council.

Public hearings have been scheduled in all four states (see schedule below). The comment period ends November 22.

The 29 plans issued for public review address the following rivers, some of which cross state lines. As well, for planning purposes some of the subbasins are specific reaches of the mainstem Columbia River:

• In Washington:  Asotin, Cowlitz, Elochoman, Grays, Kalama, Lake Chelan, Lake Rufus Woods, Lewis, White Salmon.
• In Idaho:  Bruneau, Coeur d'Alene, Salmon.
• In Idaho and Washington:  Pend Oreille.
• In Idaho and Oregon:  Lower Snake, Owyhee.
• In Montana:  Flathead.
• In Montana and Idaho:  Kootenai.
• In Oregon:  Fifteenmile Creek, Hood, Malheur, Umatilla, Willamette.
• In Oregon and Washington:  Columbia Gorge.
• In Washington:  San Poil, Spokane, Tucannon, Upper Mid- Columbia, Upper Columbia, White Salmon.

A total of 59 draft subbasin plans were submitted to the Council last May following nearly two years of work by watershed councils, local governments and state, federal and tribal agencies. The plans respond to direction in the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program that successful mitigation of the impacts of hydropower on fish and wildlife will be accomplished through the selection and implementation of subbasin-level goals, objectives and strategies. Each subbasin plan has an assessment that describes historical and existing conditions, an inventory of existing fish and wildlife projects and past accomplishments, and a management plan that looks 10-15 years into the future.

In addition to guiding implementation of the fish and wildlife program, subbasin plans will be used by NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a component of ESA recovery planning. State and federal agencies will use the plans to reconcile hatchery and harvest goals and to complete an integrated monitoring and evaluation framework for fish and wildlife projects and research.

In December, following public comments, the Council plans to amend the 29 draft subbasin plans into the fish and wildlife program and, at the same time, propose 25 more plans for adoption and release them for public comment through mid-February. A third group of draft subbasin plans is planned for adoption and public review later in 2005.

Here is the public hearing schedule for the first 29 plans (specific times and locations):

• 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

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.