From: NSIALIZ@aol.com [mailto:NSIALIZ@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 7:07 PM
To: NSIALIZ@aol.com
Subject: *****THE FISH WON ANOTHER ONE!! GO SPORTFISHING!!

More to come, but everyone should know that the 9th Circuit upheld Judge Redden’s opinion to keep spill. Good job sportfishing community. Let's keep up this effort to the Boat Rally on Sept. 8th.


For Immediate Release - August 13, 2004

Contact - Jan Hasselman, National Wildlife Federation (206) 285-8707
Todd True, Earthjustice (206) 343-7340
Liz Hamilton. NW Sportfishing Industry Association (503) 631-8859
Marc Krasnowsky, NW Energy Coalition (206) 621-0094
*Additional quotes at end

NINTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS LOWER COURT INJUNCTION
TO PROTECT SALMON
Appeal Denied - Agencies Must Continue to Allow Water
to Flow Over Dams to Aid Migrating Juvenile Salmon

Portland, OR - Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused the
government's emergency request to stay an order from U.S. District Court
Judge James Redden that requires the Army Corps of Engineers to continue
releasing water at dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers during August for
the benefit of migrating salmon. As scientists across the region have said
repeatedly, these water releases are the safest way to help young salmon get
downstream past the dams to the ocean. While these water releases have
occurred during the summer months for years, this year the Bonneville Power
Administration sought to curtail them. BPA touted large savings for
electricity customers as its main reason; however, those large savings would
have been only seven to ten cents per month for residential customers in
Portland and Seattle.

The summer water release program is one of the few firm and consistently
successful requirements in the Federal Salmon Plan for endangered salmon in
the Columbia and Snake rivers. That plan, while ruled illegal in May 2003,
remains in force until a new plan now being written takes effect. But the
Bush administration and its agencies decided not to implement the plan's
spill requirements, and instead put forth "offsets" allegedly designed to
compensate for the dramatic harm that curtailing water releases would cause
to salmon.

Scientists from the tribes, the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service all described these so-called offsets as
"speculative" and unable to mitigate for the salmon killed by cutting water
releases. Federal District Court Judge James Redden agreed with these
scientists last month when he enjoined the government plan to curtail water
releases.

In his opinion, Judge Redden highlighted the failure of the administration
to implement the current Federal Salmon Plan and to meet juvenile salmon
performance standards for the last three years as major reasons not to do
less for salmon now. He stated that he was acting "to preserve the status
quo" in light of the current "deficit situation" faced by salmon.
Specifically, he stated that '[g]iven that we are working from a deficit
situation, we should not be cutting back on an effective mitigation tool."

"By upholding Judge Redden's decision, the Ninth Circuit is affirming what
we've known all along - gambling the future of wild salmon to save a few
cents a month on our electric bills is not a tradeoff people in the
Northwest want to make," said Todd True, staff attorney, Earthjustice. "We
all look for ways to save money, but being penny wise and pound foolish
hurts everyone. It's time for the administration to obey the law."
In addition to not living up to the promise of large ratepayer savings, the
proposal to cut spill would have put salmon-dependent jobs at risk. NOAA
Fisheries' own analysis states that holding back on the water releases could
kill up to 742,000 young salmon.
"Thanks to the Ninth Circuit and Judge Redden, we have a positive vision for
the future of the Northwest," said Liz Hamilton, executive director,
Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. "Our vision includes a healthy
vibrant economy where salmon-dependent communities are whole and prospering
- not bearing the burden of BPA's fiscal errors. And we are grateful that
Oregon Governor Kulongoski defended our economy by opposing this curtailment
of spill."

"The electric utilities have real concerns regarding the price of
electricity - concerns that we take seriously and must come together to
discuss," said Sara Patton, executive director, NW Energy Coalition.
"Hurting salmon to save pennies, however is not a good plan, while aiding
salmon and hurting people and businesses is not wise either. People in the
Northwest want and deserve clean, affordable electricity AND wild salmon and
through listening to each other and looking for common ground we can get
there."

The plan to reduce summer spill was repeatedly criticized by the region's
fisheries agencies. Unfortunately, the government's willingness to ignore
sound science and instead make politically expedient decisions may be a
harbinger for future salmon decisions. The federal government's court
ordered revision of the Federal Salmon Plan is due in draft form at the end
of this month and could reveal further disregard for science.

"Today is a day to celebrate; however we must not grow complacent," said Jan
Hasselman, staff attorney, National Wildlife Federation. "If the recent
attempts by this administration to thwart salmon recovery efforts are any
indication, the draft plan due out later this month will be even worse than
the one that the federal court threw out last year."

Additional Quotes

Pat Ford, executive director, Save Our Wild Salmon
Contact: Vicki Paris (503) 230-0421, x. 18
"This administration will stop at nothing to roll back positive salmon
recovery efforts. This is a significant victory for salmon-based communities
in the Northwest. Salmon recovery should not be used as a political issue.
It is an economic and cultural issue. We can choose to have a future filled
with healthy communities, a robust economy and lots of wild salmon or we can
choose to continue status quo dam operations and watch as the
fishing-dependent communities follow the salmon and become a part of our
past."

Rob Masonis, Northwest regional director, American Rivers
Contact: Michael Garrity (206) 213-0330, x. 11
"The verdict is in: the Bush administration cannot shirk its obligations to
protect wild salmon in the Columbia Basin. Instead of fighting to reduce
salmon protections, it's time for the administration to honor the will of
the people of the Northwest by issuing a new salmon plan for the Columbia
Basin that will recover wild salmon, not just avoid extinction."

Kathleen Casey, NW field director, Sierra Club
Contact: (206) 378-0114, x. 305
"Reducing water releases would have been another link in the Bush
administration's chain of attempts to eliminate protections for our
endangered NW salmon. The judges agree with scientists and economists that,
upon closer inspection, the Bush administration's policies are harmful to
fish and the local communities that depend on them."

Bert Bowler, fisheries biologist, Idaho Rivers United
Contact: (208) 343-7481
"Reducing water releases makes no intuitive sense - it is one salmon
protection method now being utilized that really works. If anything,
federal hydro managers should be looking for ways to increase these water
releases, not reduce it."
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