Washington Hunter
Well-known member
The Olympian, Olympia Washington
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Activists Say Bush Failing on Salmon
WASHINGTON -- For the second year in a row, the Bush administration is failing to meet federal goals to save endangered salmon in the Northwest, conservation and fishing groups say.
In a report card issued Wednesday, the organizations again gave the administration an "F", saying officials have failed to implement nearly three-quarters of the measures required under a salmon recovery plan adopted in late 2000.
The Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition said the administration must make drastic improvements if is to pass a mandatory federal review scheduled this fall.
"It is unlikely that this administration will go from an 'F' to an 'A' in six months," said former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
If officials fall short, as he and others expect, they should consider removal of dams along the Snake River in Eastern Washington, Babbitt said.
Babbitt, who served as Interior secretary for eight years under President Clinton, is now an adviser to the conservation group. He said he was "extremely disappointed" at the Bush administration's salmon recovery efforts.
Babbitt accused officials of intentionally ignoring the four-state salmon plan adopted in December 2000, just before Clinton left office. If officials continue to ignore the plan, they are likely to wind up in court, Babbitt said.
Brian Gorman, a Seattle spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, called the report card bogus.
"It's rather odd to call it a report card since it seems to be issued before we have a chance to take the final exam," Gorman said, referring to the September 2003 review scheduled on the salmon plan.
"At what point does failure to comply constitute a violation of the Endangered Species Act?" he asked. "I'm not in the business of soliciting lawsuits, for the most part, but it's a real issue."
Justin Gould, chairman of the Columbia River Intertribal Commission, also threatened legal action if the administration does not improve.
Gould, a member of Nez Perce tribe, said the report card "exposes the Bush administration's fundamental lack of commitment to Indian tribes in the Columbia River Basin. We've watched the best science become compromised by politics, and powerful agencies railroad the best efforts at coordination."
In its report, the salmon coalition cited several areas where officials had not met standards imposed by the salmon plan, including failure to request or receive necessary funding; failure to reduce water temperatures in the lower Snake River below the recommended 68 degrees Fahrenheit; and failure to secure recommended water flows to help move salmon to the sea.
Since taking office in 2001, the administration has funded the salmon plan at about half the estimated $900 million per year needed to implement it, the report said.
The funding situation is likely to get worse, said Pat Ford, executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon. In its budget request for the next fiscal year, the administration is proposing a 5 percent cut in salmon spending, he said.
Brian Gorman, a Seattle spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, called the report card bogus.
"It's rather odd to call it a report card since it seems to be issued before we have a chance to take the final exam," Gorman said, referring to the September 2003 review scheduled on the salmon plan.
The review, the first of three formal reports required in 2003, 2005 and 2008, is considered a key gauge of the salmon recovery effort. The fisheries agency has rejected dam breaching and instead has called for an approach that attempts to restore streams where salmon spawn, reform hatcheries to reduce harm to wild fish and increase fishing restrictions.
In a preliminary report issued last year, the agency said it was implementing 176 of 199 actions required under the salmon plan -- an 88 percent compliance rate that is nearly quadruple the score given by the conservation group.
The report card follows a preliminary study this week by the federal biologists indicating that improved salmon and steelhead returns in the past three years appear to be due to a temporary cycle of more food in the ocean, rather than a lasting change that would save the fish from extinction.
The report by fisheries service staff says that none of the 27 populations of salmon and steelhead evaluated should be removed from threatened or endangered species lists. Three species now listed as threatened appear to have declined to endangered status, the scientists indicated.
Thursday, February 27, 2003
Activists Say Bush Failing on Salmon
WASHINGTON -- For the second year in a row, the Bush administration is failing to meet federal goals to save endangered salmon in the Northwest, conservation and fishing groups say.
In a report card issued Wednesday, the organizations again gave the administration an "F", saying officials have failed to implement nearly three-quarters of the measures required under a salmon recovery plan adopted in late 2000.
The Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition said the administration must make drastic improvements if is to pass a mandatory federal review scheduled this fall.
"It is unlikely that this administration will go from an 'F' to an 'A' in six months," said former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
If officials fall short, as he and others expect, they should consider removal of dams along the Snake River in Eastern Washington, Babbitt said.
Babbitt, who served as Interior secretary for eight years under President Clinton, is now an adviser to the conservation group. He said he was "extremely disappointed" at the Bush administration's salmon recovery efforts.
Babbitt accused officials of intentionally ignoring the four-state salmon plan adopted in December 2000, just before Clinton left office. If officials continue to ignore the plan, they are likely to wind up in court, Babbitt said.
Brian Gorman, a Seattle spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, called the report card bogus.
"It's rather odd to call it a report card since it seems to be issued before we have a chance to take the final exam," Gorman said, referring to the September 2003 review scheduled on the salmon plan.
"At what point does failure to comply constitute a violation of the Endangered Species Act?" he asked. "I'm not in the business of soliciting lawsuits, for the most part, but it's a real issue."
Justin Gould, chairman of the Columbia River Intertribal Commission, also threatened legal action if the administration does not improve.
Gould, a member of Nez Perce tribe, said the report card "exposes the Bush administration's fundamental lack of commitment to Indian tribes in the Columbia River Basin. We've watched the best science become compromised by politics, and powerful agencies railroad the best efforts at coordination."
In its report, the salmon coalition cited several areas where officials had not met standards imposed by the salmon plan, including failure to request or receive necessary funding; failure to reduce water temperatures in the lower Snake River below the recommended 68 degrees Fahrenheit; and failure to secure recommended water flows to help move salmon to the sea.
Since taking office in 2001, the administration has funded the salmon plan at about half the estimated $900 million per year needed to implement it, the report said.
The funding situation is likely to get worse, said Pat Ford, executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon. In its budget request for the next fiscal year, the administration is proposing a 5 percent cut in salmon spending, he said.
Brian Gorman, a Seattle spokesman for NOAA Fisheries, formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, called the report card bogus.
"It's rather odd to call it a report card since it seems to be issued before we have a chance to take the final exam," Gorman said, referring to the September 2003 review scheduled on the salmon plan.
The review, the first of three formal reports required in 2003, 2005 and 2008, is considered a key gauge of the salmon recovery effort. The fisheries agency has rejected dam breaching and instead has called for an approach that attempts to restore streams where salmon spawn, reform hatcheries to reduce harm to wild fish and increase fishing restrictions.
In a preliminary report issued last year, the agency said it was implementing 176 of 199 actions required under the salmon plan -- an 88 percent compliance rate that is nearly quadruple the score given by the conservation group.
The report card follows a preliminary study this week by the federal biologists indicating that improved salmon and steelhead returns in the past three years appear to be due to a temporary cycle of more food in the ocean, rather than a lasting change that would save the fish from extinction.
The report by fisheries service staff says that none of the 27 populations of salmon and steelhead evaluated should be removed from threatened or endangered species lists. Three species now listed as threatened appear to have declined to endangered status, the scientists indicated.
