The Obama Administration wants more time before it weighs in on one of the Northwest’s longest running environmental battles; how to protect salmon in the Columbia River Basin.
The Administration is facing a deadline of this Friday, August 14th, to complete a review of the 2008 Salmon plan and present it to U.S. District Judge James Redden.
Courtesy WDFW
But in a letter sent to Judge Redden on Monday, the Administration now says it wants more time to work on the review, and more time to discuss it with the gazillions of parties that have a stake in the outcome. The Justice Department is asking Judge Redden for another month, with a new deadline of September 15.
(Read the entire letter here.)
The letter also hints the Obama Administration may be seeking some kind of broader agreement before returning to the judge with its final position. “In these discussions with the other parties, ” the letter says. “We will be seeking to determine if there is common ground that can be achieved based on our review.”
The 2008 plan is officially known as the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion, or BiOp. Of all the plans submitted to Redden, it’s safe to say this one has the widest support. The states of Washinton, Idaho and Montana are in favor, as well as many of the Northwest Tribes who fought against earlier versions of the plan. The Tribes’ turnaround came after the Bonneville Power Administration agreed to spend about $900 million to restore salmon habitat and improve hatcheries. Most of the money would go to tribal sponsored projects.
But Oregon, the Nez Perce tribe, and several environmental groups are opposed to the 2008 BiOp. Even Judge Redden has written it’s too optimistic about salmon recovery numbers, and needs to consider the possibility of removing dams. Redden rejected the 2000 and 2004 versions of the BiOp.
In May, two of Obama’s top environmental officials came to Portland to discuss the BiOp with scientists, local governments and tribal officials. Their questions at the time were similar to those raised by Redden, does the plan rely too much on hatcher and habitat improvements, and what else can be done to make the dams less lethal to salmon?
