the film
forum
library
tutorial
contact
Commentaries and editorials

Report: Judge Wants Dam Removal
as an Option for Salmon

by Matthew Preusch
The Oregonian, April 17, 2009

(Torsten Kjellstrand) U.S. District Court Judge James Redden A federal judge weighing the federal government's salmon plan for the Columbia Basin wants the breaching of four dams on the Snake River included as a possible option should salmon runs in that river face extinction.

The NW Fishletter reports that was one message U.S. District Court Judge James Redden gave in an April 2 closed door meeting with litigants involved in a lawsuit challenging the plan, called a biological opinion.

"The judge wants NOAA Fisheries to add language to the BiOp that would provide a breaching 'off-ramp' in case the Snake runs collapse. That could take some fancy legal footwork, since the feds had recently announced they were not going to reopen the 2008 BiOp for consultation," the Fishletter says.

Redden has twice before rejected the government's strategy for squaring salmon recovery with the running of the basin's system of hydropower dams, but at a March 6 hearing he said the current strategy was "very close".


Matthew Preusch
Report: Judge Wants Dam Removal as an Option for Salmon
The Oregonian, April 17, 2009

See what you can learn

learn more on topics covered in the film
see the video
read the script
learn the songs
discussion forum
salmon animation