3 Former NW Governors Urge Obama To Ditch Bush-Era Plan For Columbia Basin Salmon

[hatrack]

Three former Northwest governors are urging the Obama administration to reject a Bush-era plan designed to save the region's salmon. The letter made public today from John Kitzhaber, Cecil Andrus and Mike Lowry is the latest high-profile plea to the president to engage on the persistent problem. And a coming court deadline means Obama's salmon policy should be clear soon.

The administration has until Aug. 14 to decide whether to defend, amend or ditch a plan put forward last year to run federal power-producing dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers without pushing imperiled salmon closer to extinction.

U.S. District Court Judge James Redden has hinted that the plan, supported by most Northwest tribes and the state of Washington -- but not Oregon or a coalition of environmental and fishing groups -- may not meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. "We think the District Court's guidance letter, issued May 21, indicates that the plan, like its two predecessors, is likely to be found illegal if you decide to support it. We urge you not to take that course," wrote Kitzhaber, Andrus and Lowry, the former governors of Oregon, Idaho and Washington, respectively.

EDIT

That has reopened an old debate, one Kitzhaber was intimately involved in during his time in office, over whether dam removal is necessary to save salmon. In 2000, Kitzhaber made headlines by coming out in favor of dam removal as one part of a larger strategy to restore wild salmon. But the political landscape is different now: More regional leaders say dam removal should at least be on the table. And some businesses in inland ports dependent on the dams are now open to them being removed if it includes support for improving rail and road infrastructure. "Right now the weak link are the Washington senators, who at best have been silent on this issue," said Nicole Cordan, an attorney for Save Our Wild Salmon, which facilitated the governors' letter to Obama.

EDIT

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/exgovernors_urge_white_house_t.html

[hedgehog]

1. I was just talking with my mother about leftover Bush plans

being pushed by leftover Bushies squirreled away in the executive branch.