Columbia Basin Bulletin - November 19, 2024

Dam Breaching Study, Cloning Endangered Ferrets, Saving the Sage Grouse, NOAA Awards $9.2M... and more

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Columbia Basin Bulletin
November 20, 2024

An agreement to study transportation and recreational services that would need mitigation if the four lower Snake River dams were breached to recover the river’s threatened salmon and steelhead was signed early last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Washington’s Department of Transportation.

Some 262 adult summer steelhead have returned to the Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project’s trap on Oregon’s Deschutes River as of November 7 and all have been or will be released into Lake Billy Chinook.

An epidemiological study found that 56% of a large breeding colony of Caspian terns died from a 2023 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at Rat Island in Washington state.

Groundbreaking Research: First Time Cloned Endangered Species (Black-Footed Ferret) Produces Offspring

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservation partners have announced a groundbreaking achievement in endangered species research: the first-ever birth of black-footed ferrets produced by a cloned endangered animal.

The number of gray whale calves migrating with their mothers along the California Coast this year was one of the lowest on record.

Researchers Find They Can Use E-DNA To Estimate Biomass Of Multiple Alaska Fish Species Simultaneously

In a new study, NOAA Fisheries scientists, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, show that it is possible to estimate fish biomass for more than one species at the same time, using environmental DNA (eDNA).

Oregon and Washington fishery managers set dates and harvest guidelines for recreational white sturgeon retention in pools backed up behind Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day dams.

The Bonneville Power Administration reported its end-of-year financial performance results for fiscal year 2024 at its Quarterly Business Review, showing negative revenues and missed targets.

Judge Upholds Oregon F/W Commission Decision To End Summer Steelhead Hatchery Releases On North Umpqua River To Protect Wild Fish

A Marion County Circuit Court in Oregon denied a petition to continue releases of hatchery summer steelhead smolts into Oregon’s North Umpqua River.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has developed an update to the Statewide Fish Passage Barrier Priority List, which is revised every five years.

The Department of the Interior has announced updates by the Bureau of Land Management to “strengthen conservation and management of greater sage-grouse habitat on public lands, informed by the best available science, collaborative work with states, and input from local, Tribal and federal partners.”

NOAA Fisheries has awarded more than $9.2 million in grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act to academic partners that will help recover threatened and endangered Pacific salmon.