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This is the Council's Monthly Spotlight e-newsletter. Each month, you'll receive the latest news from Council meetings, including recent decisions, news from state offices, and updates on energy and the environment.

Please note: The newsletter emailed at 10am Friday July 22 had an incorrect last article. The correction below shows that the F&W budget was reviewed, not approved at the July Council meeting. This newsletter was re-emailed Friday afternoon.

July 2005 Issue

Scientists Report on Concerns About the Effect of Harvest on Salmon Recovery Efforts 

As part of an all-day workshop on harvest management practices in the Columbia River Basin, the Council was briefed on a report by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board. The report identified the following deficiencies:

1. insufficient quantitative data for analyses by fish production units;
2. very limited evidence of assessment analyses by production units to provide a biological basis for production goals and trends in status; and
3. limited evidence of accounting for uncertainty in management plans.

The Council also heard a report on the economic contribution of Columbia River fisheries. The report estimates that fishing on the Columbia River contributes $142 million of income to local Northwest economies each year. The number of jobs associated with these fisheries in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho is estimated at 3,633.

Conservation Investment Achieves Greater Than Ever Savings 

Tom Eckman, conservation resource manager, presented data to Council members that shows the region's investment in conservation achieves greater savings now than in the early 1990s. The region has now saved almost 3,000 average megawatts since 1978—twice the entire state of Montana's electricity use in 2004. The reason for this "costs less, buys more" trend is the many advances in efficiency technologies, such as lighting, and successful market transformation initiatives that have increased the market share for energy-efficient products and services like compact fluorescent light bulbs, efficient appliances, and new building design.

Council Reviews Fiscal Year 2006 Fish and Wildlife Program Budget

Council members reviewed a set of fish and wildlife projects and a proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2006. The Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee will discuss the matter further at a special meeting August 2 and make a recommendation for the full Council to consider at its August 9-10 meeting in Missoula. More information is available in a decision memorandum.
 

Coming Up

• August 9-11: Council meeting in Missoula

For more, visit www.nwcouncil.org.

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