[env-trinity] Suit argues to lift salmon protection

[Byron]

Suit argues to lift salmon protection 

Thursday, April 19, 2007 

JEFF BARNARD 

The Oregonian 

 

EUGENE -- Property rights advocates, farm groups and development interests
asked a federal judge Wednesday to lift Endangered Species Act protections
from all threatened and endangered salmon across the West, arguing that the
government failed to count fish spawned in hatcheries. 

 

The federal government and conservation groups countered that the Endangered
Species Act requires consideration of the best available science, which
clearly indicates that depending on fish raised in hatcheries to boost
salmon numbers will, over the long run, harm fish that spawn naturally in
rivers. 

 

Pacific Legal Foundation, a property-rights public interest law firm based
in Sacramento, brought the suit on behalf of the Building Industry
Association of Washington, the Coalition for Idaho Water, farm bureaus in
Idaho and Washington, the California State Grange and others. 

 

The lawsuit builds on U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan's 2001 ruling that
the federal agency in charge of restoring dwindling salmon populations,
violated the Endangered Species Act when it put wild and hatchery fish in
the same group, but then protected only the wild fish. 

 

The plaintiffs want the court to lift threatened and endangered species
listings for all 16 protected populations of salmon in Washington, Idaho,
Oregon and California. 

 

If they win, some restrictions on logging, irrigation and urban development
could eventually be lifted around the West. 

 

Restrictions on hydroelectric dam operations in the Columbia Basin would not
be affected, because the case does not challenge 10 populations of
steelhead, which overlap many of the protected salmon zones. Pacific Legal
Foundation is challenging those listings, too, in U.S. District Court in
Fresno, Calif. 




C2007 The Oregonian

 

 

 







Fighting to save wild fish

 



Richard Kennon
Director 

Native Fish Society
 
<http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=PO+Box+19570&csz=Portland%2C
+OR+97280-0570&country=us> PO Box 19570
Portland, OR 97280-0570 


 <mailto:tightlines at centurytel.net> tightlines at centurytel.net
 <http://www.nativefishsociety.org/> www.nativefishsociety.org 


tel: 
tel2:

 
<http://www.plaxo.com/click_to_call?src=jj_signature&To=360-686-3626&Email=t
ightlines at centurytel.net> 360-686-3626 
 
<http://www.plaxo.com/click_to_call?src=jj_signature&To=360-903-6095+cell&Em
ail=tightlines at centurytel.net> 360-903-6095 cell 

 



 
<https://www.plaxo.com/add_me?u=4295495734&v0=1051318&k0=2070891001&v1=10513
19&k1=1129870906> Add me to your address book...

 <http://www.plaxo.com/signature> Want a signature like this?

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20070420/f0c7934e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: attd1431.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 2368 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20070420/f0c7934e/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: NFSLOGO-small.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 15997 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20070420/f0c7934e/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: click_to_call.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 345 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20070420/f0c7934e/attachment-0001.gif>