July 5, 2024 Recent News

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Columbia Basin Bulletin
July 05, 2024

Though Sockeye Return To Columbia River Is Booming, Angler Retention Shut Down To Protect Struggling, ESA-Listed Snake River Sockeye

Last week, Oregon and Washington fisheries managers shut down retention of Columbia River sockeye salmon from the ocean to the two-state border at Hwy 395 near Pasco, WA, even as the run size forecast rose twice and by early this week had nearly doubled.

Study Finds Pacific Cod In Gulf Of Alaska Can’t Rely On Coastal Safe Havens For Protection During Marine Heat Waves, May Have To Move North

During recent periods of unusually warm water in the Gulf of Alaska, young Pacific cod in near shore safe havens where they typically spend their adolescence did not experience the protective effects those areas typically provide, a new Oregon State University study found.

With Air, Water Temps In Lower Snake Heating Up, Corps Releasing Cool Dworshak Flows To Aid Salmon, Steelhead

The reservoir behind central Idaho’s Dworshak Dam is full (1,600-foot elevation), air temperatures in the lower Snake River basin are warming into the 100’s over the July 4 weekend and beyond, and tailwater temperature at Lower Granite Dam is warming towards 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the maximum allowed by NOAA Fisheries’ biological opinion on impacts of the federal hydroelectric system on salmon and steelhead.

NW Power/Conservation Council Approves Funds To Upgrade Fish Screens, Reviews Progress On $25 Million For Hatchery Maintenance

Idaho, Washington and Oregon are in line to receive $1,840,082 to upgrade or replace existing fish screens that prevent migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead from getting trapped in canals and irrigation ditches.

USFWS Releases Strategy To Avoid Extinction Of Northwest Spotted Owls: Lethally Remove Small Numbers Of Invasive Barred Owls

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week released its final environmental impact statement analyzing proposed barred owl management alternatives to protect northern and California spotted owls in Washington, Oregon and California from invasive barred owls.

USFWS Lists Mount Rainier Ptarmigan As Threatened Due To Climate Change, Lives In High Country Cascades From Mount Adams To Canada

A bird that spends its entire life near mountaintops in the Pacific Northwest is likely to become in danger of extinction as a result of climate change, the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service has announced.

Bass Predation Primary Reason For Struggling Wild Chinook In Oregon River, ODFW Allowing Spearfishing To Remove The Invasive Fish

Spearfishing for bass is allowed on southwest Oregon’s Coquille River through Oct. 31. Spears, spear guns and angling with bait to take smallmouth bass is allowed, and there are no harvest size or limits.

Southern Resident Killer Whales In Poor Condition, ‘Vulnerable’; WDFW Asks All Boaters To Give Struggling, ESA-Listed Orcas Space

For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife issued an emergency rule requiring commercial whale-watching vessels to stay at least one-half nautical mile away from vulnerable Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) this summer.

Turning The Tide At Willapa Bay: From Fastest Eroding West Coast Beach To One Of ‘Best Restored Beaches’

The 1.1 mile long North Cove beach is located along the north entrance to Willapa Bay in Pacific County and was once the fastest eroding ocean beach on the U.S. West Coast.

Ninth Circuit Stops Old-Growth Clearcutting In Oregon Forest To Protect ESA-Listed Marbled Murrelets

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a lower court ruling that prevents Scott Timber from clearcutting old growth trees within Oregon’s Elliott State Forest. The decision will protect marbled murrelets, which are a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.