[env-trinity] Deal Gives Money to Tribes to Drop Role in Fish Lawsuits

[Tom Stokely]

NY Times
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April 8, 2008
Deal Gives Money to Tribes to Drop Role in Fish Lawsuits
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
SEATTLE — The enduring battle over endangered salmon in the Northwest took a 
new turn on Monday with the announcement of a deal between the federal 
government and four Indian tribes.

The agreement would give the tribes nearly $1 billion to manage fish habitat 
and hatcheries in exchange for abandoning their opposition to federal 
fish-management policies in the region.

Indian tribes have long joined with environmental groups in their fight 
against federal agencies over the management of the Columbia and Snake 
Rivers and an extensive network of hydroelectric dams. The dams, which 
provide cheap electricity to the Northwest, have caused consistent declines 
in fish populations and generated court fights.

Fishing and conservation groups and the State of Oregon have led court 
fights, with tribes often filing briefs in support of the plaintiffs. A 
federal district judge in Oregon, James A. Redden, has repeatedly sided with 
the plaintiffs, rejecting proposals by the Bush administration as 
insufficient to restore and protect salmon and other species that 
historically have migrated up the rivers to spawn.

The deal has opened a rift between the tribes and environmental groups. In 
return for $900 million over the next 10 years, the tribes must agree to 
stop their involvement in the lawsuits.

"The focus will turn to implementation rather than litigation," said Steve 
Wright, the administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, which 
would pay about $850 million of the settlement. Mr. Wright would not say if 
he expected electric rates to rise.

The other $50 million would come from the Army Corps of Engineers. The four 
tribes are the Umatilla, Warm Springs, Yakama and Colville of Washington 
State and Oregon. A fifth involved in the litigation, the Nez Perce, has not 
joined the agreement.

Mr. Wright said the Bonneville Power Administration, part of the Energy 
Department, would seek public input this month to refine the deal. But the 
agencies involved have authority to finalize it without outside approval.

Environmental groups involved in the litigation said the agreement, which 
focuses heavily on restoring habitat and expanding fish hatcheries in 
tributaries of the Columbia, did not directly address the main cause of the 
declining fish population: hydroelectric dams. Some groups want the dams 
removed. Oregon wants more aggressive measures to help fish pass over the 
dams.

"We're just saying keep your eye on the ball," said Todd True, a lawyer for 
Earthjustice, which represents some of the plaintiffs in the case before 
Judge Redden. "That is, what does the Endangered Species Act say needs to be 
done? And what does the science say needs to be done?"