Although endangered Snake River salmon appear to be
losing their battle with extinction, they continue to win in court.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 9
that the Northwest Power Planning Council’s plan for restoring
Snake River salmon gives too much to industrial interests and too
little to tribal and state biologists, reports The Oregonian. The
council was created by Congress in 1980 and charged with giving
salmon equal consideration with hydropower in the operation of
federal dams in the Columbia River Basin.
In a
ruling remarkably similar to federal judge Malcolm Marsh’s decision
last May, the three-judge panel said the agency might not be
meeting that mandate: “Rather than asserting its role as a regional
leader, the council has assumed the role of consensus builder,
sometimes sacrificing the act’s fish and wildlife goals for what
is, in essence, the lowest common denominator acceptable to power
interests and DSIs (aluminum companies),” said the judges.
The court instructed the power council to
“defer” to state and tribal fish experts who want to try a variety
of politically controversial measures to save the salmon, including
reservoir drawdowns, flow augmentation and water spills over the
dams. Industry representatives say it could force changes in dam
operations that would make Northwest power rates soar. Power
Council director Ed Sheets says the 58-page decision will provide
“useful guidance” when the council begins amending its plan later
this fall.
* Paul Larmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Salmon win again (in court).
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