Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality heads to Astoria this evening for a public meeting on the Bradwood Landing LNG project. Could be interesting. DEQ is reviewing Clean Air, Clean Water and other permits that Bradwood needs before it can be built. It will explain that process at the meeting.
A recent letter from DEQ revealed that NorthernStar, the developers of Bradwood, have been putting some pressure on the agency to review and approve the permits by this summer. DEQ doesn’t appear to be in any hurry, just to make the company happy.
After a few brutal years, things are looking somewhat better for Oregon’s coastal salmon fishermen.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council released its salmon forecast for 2010. Salmon numbers on the Sacramento and Klamath rivers are high enough to allow for some kind of commercial fishing season off Southern Oregon and California.
Along the Northern Oregon and Washington coasts, the situation looks better. Coho numbers are down about a third from last year, but Chinook numbers are up.
Still to be determined… how much actual fishing will be allowed.
The all you can eat seafood buffet at Bonneville Dam is open for business.
Early season numbers from Oregon Fish and Wildlife tell us that anywhere from a dozen to two dozen sea lions are hanging out at the dam, enjoying the easy pickings of salmon and sturgeon. Most of are Steller sea lions, only a few of them are of the California variety.
Those numbers are typical for late February, according Rick Hargrave of ODFW. Steller sea lions arrive first. The number of California sea lions will pick up starting in March.
What is unusual – is how much fish they’re eating.
Russ Morgan, ODFW wolf coordinator, with a 97-pound male wolf collared Feb. 12th. Photo from ODFW.
One of the biggest wildlife stories of last year was news that a pack of ten wolves are living in the Imnaha Wildlife Management Unit in Wallowa County.
In order to better follow the pack and understand their movements, officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife captured three pack members last weekend and put radio collars on them.
Accusing the feds of dragging their feet, the Center For Biological Diversity has filed four lawsuits to win Endangered Species protection for 93 types of wildlife and plants.
In Oregon, the Center is seeking protection for the dusky tree vole, the black-footed albatross and dozens of native mollusks.
For a young steelhead on its way to the ocean, river estuaries are the last stop – in more ways than one.
Research from Oregon State University shows that about half of migrating steelhead never make it the ocean. Instead they get as far as the estuary at the river’s end and abruptly die. That came as a surprise to OSU researchers who are trying to figure out if that’s a typical mortality rate, or if something new is killing steelhead in larger than normal numbers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will announce tomorrow (Friday) that’s it’s denying endangered species status for the America Pika, a small cousin of the rabbit that goes by the nickname, “boulder bunny.”
The decision is a huge disappointment for environmental groups. They say the pika is danger of going extinct because of global warming. If the feds had agreed, it would have been the first time global warming was the primary reason for listing an animal.
The Copco 1 Dam on the Klamath River. Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Several environmental groups are coming together with a new proposal for removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River in Oregon and California.
It’s response to an earlier agreement announced in September by the Interior Department. While that agreement laid the foundation for dam removal, many environmental groups were not satisfied with it.
Today’s proposal is designed to move things along much, much faster.
The new coalition is calling itself the Klamath Conservation Partners, and here’s what it’s proposing.
When the chinook salmon return on the Columbia River next spring, get ready for massive numbers of fish.
Wildlife officials say they’re expecting about 470,000 chinook for the spring run. If that prediction is accurate, it would be the biggest return of spring chinook since 1938.
The announcement by Oregon Fish and Wildlife, Washington Fish and Wildlife and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, admits that past predictions of salmon runs haven’t always been on target.
So they’re taking extra precautions to get it right for 2010.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking at a new tactic to help save the Northern Spotted Owl. Like so many issues surrounding this endangered species, what the feds are considering could be very controversial. But this time, it may be people in the environmental movement who’ll be unhappy.
Fish and Wildlife is proposing an experimental removal of Barred Owls from three areas in Oregon and Washington. Barred Owls are relative newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. They were rarely seen until about 10 to 15 years ago. But since then their numbers have exploded and spotted owls have suffered greatly. If removing barred owls helps the spotted owl recover, then Fish and Wildlife may want to expand the program across the region.
Here is where it gets tricky. Does “removal” mean shooting and killing barred owls, or does it mean trapping and relocating them? Fish and Wildlife says it hasn’t figured that out yet. So as of Thursday, it’s opening a 30-day window for public comment.
Video: In June, we went on a field trip to OSU researcher David Wiens who’s studying how Barred Owls compete with Spotted Owls.
Other questions Fish and Wildlife is wrestling with; how many barred owls should be removed and if they’re captured where is the best spot to release them?
