Court backs BPA's management of fish

registerguard.com ^ | September 3, 2003 | AP

[bicycle thug]

PORTLAND - A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit by Indian tribes and environmentalists who said the Bonneville Power Administration mismanaged fish and wildlife conservation programs by favoring energy development in the Northwest.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Bonneville had followed proper procedure for drafting and managing conservation programs to balance energy needs with efforts to protect and restore salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin.

A three-judge panel in San Francisco also said the Northwest Power Act ``does not require every BPA decision to treat fish and wildlife equitably'' as long as the federal power marketing agency strikes a balance over time.

``For example, BPA may make some decisions that place power above fish, so long as on the whole, it treats fish on par with power,'' the court said.

The tribes and the environmentalists filed the appeal in November 2001, at the end of the Western energy crisis caused by drought that reduced hydropower generation, utility deregulation failure in California and energy market manipulation by Enron Corp.

They claimed that Bonneville had violated its duty to balance power needs with fish and wildlife conservation in the Columbia River Basin by sacrificing some fish in order to generate power during the energy shortage.

The 9th Circuit ruling instead ``affirms what we did during the Western energy crisis,'' said BPA spokesman Ed Mosey.

The lawsuit was filed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Nez Perce tribe, along with the Sierra Club and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. It was joined by other tribes and the state of Oregon.

Glen Spain, spokesman for the fishermen's association, said the ruling was largely a procedural action that would not have much effect on a court-ordered redrafting of the salmon conservation plan.

[bicycle thug]

ping

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.

[bybybill]

WOW, at least three judges on the 9th have a little common sense. There are so many fish now, 6 of us caught 18 keepers in 45 min. last week

[cherry]

these people that apparently don't have to work for a living have little to do except to make industry and energy generation in this country more difficult to sustain....

[Dead Dog]

I caught a 29 lb 'nook last month, also caught a 42 lb (baby) Halibut. A 105lb Halibut had been taken from the same area the day before.

[Voltage]

It's a good thing the courts stepped in because fish no longer can care for themselves. In just a few generations they have forgotten.

[bybybill]

How can that be? Man and his damn dams have killed all the fish

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Dead Dog]

How can that be? Man and his damn dams have killed all the fish

These were Dam Fish, Big Dam Fish!

[blackie]

A win for the good guys!

[bybybill]

Where were you fishing out of

[Dead Dog]

Newport, we were about 35 miles west of the bridge.