The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has new hands on the reins as of May 30 with Col. William E. Rapp assuming command of the Northwestern Division and Col. Steven Miles becoming commander of the division’s Portland District.
Removing species — such as gulls, mergansers, terns and cormorants — that prey on salmon and steelhead stocks may not improve the fishes’ overall survival rate, according to a University of Washington research paper published last month in the Ecological Applications, a publication of the Ecological Society of America.
The behavior is not unheard of, but the magnitude of a white sturgeon pileup this past winter below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam is unique.
High Columbia River flows have brought high levels of debris into Bonneville Dam’s smolt bypass screens, resulting last week in a severe rate of descaling in young migrating fish.
The Bonneville Power Administration and Northwest Power and Conservation Council are calling on regional power experts to help the Pacific Northwest Resource Adequacy Forum, an ad hoc industry group, perform a sustained hydro peaking capacity analysis — a review of the entire region’s hydro system.
Federal, state and tribal officials have yet to prioritize which research and construction projects will be funded in the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Columbia River Fish Mitigation program, but they’ll have to fit their choices around construction of a second spillwall below The Dalles Dam.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week recommended $247,465 in within-year funding adjustments for eight fish and wildlife projects, as well as a $464,000, two-year spending package to implement the Colville Tribes’ Lake Rufus Woods creel survey and stocking proposal in central Washington.
Federal, state and tribal officials have yet to prioritize which research and construction projects will be funded in the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Columbia River Fish Mitigation program, but they’ll have to fit their choices around construction of a second spillwall below The Dalles Dam.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday decided, in some corners begrudgingly, to give a long-running John Day River subbasin habitat project another chance to prove the work is improving the health of salmon and steelhead stocks.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week recommended $247,465 in within-year funding adjustments for eight fish and wildlife projects, as well as a $464,000, two-year spending package to implement the Colville Tribes’ Lake Rufus Woods creel survey and stocking proposal in central Washington.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Seattle District emergency management personnel are monitoring river conditions in Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana in advance of the predicted warm temperatures.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday decided, in some corners begrudgingly, to give a long-running John Day River subbasin habitat project another chance to prove the work is improving the health of salmon and steelhead stocks.
A three-pronged federal strategy announced this week to lift beleaguered salmon and steelhead stocks onto a recovery trajectory has already begun to draw some heat.
Targeted particularly is the leg that addresses hydro system impacts on the Columbia/Snake river basin fish.
Four Columbia River basin tribes and three federal agencies say years of divisiveness over salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin ended May 2 with the signing of agreements designed to deliver specific, scientifically valid biological benefits for the region’s fish.
The federal government’s combination of “biological opinions” to govern the recovery of 13 listed salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin includes for the first time the state of Montana’s desired dam operations.
An upriver spring chinook salmon spawning run that has proceeded in fits and starts up the Columbia and Snake rivers is almost certainly late and smaller in number than had been predicted in preseason, according to fishery officials.
A three-meeting tug-o-war was settled over the past week by Mother Nature, which released enough water from mountain snowpacks to keep Lake Roosevelt ferry boats afloat and boost Columbia River flows carrying juvenile salmon and steelhead toward the Pacific Ocean.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking public comments on the seventh annual report to the Northwest governors on Bonneville Power Administration expenditures to implement the Council’s program to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin.
Water releases from central Idaho’s Dworshak Dam were ratcheted down to some degree Wednesday evening as fish and hydro system managers tried to strike a balance between providing flow augmentation now for migrating juvenile steelhead and salmon and assuring a maximum store of water to help returning adult fish this summer.
A three-pronged federal strategy announced this week to lift beleaguered salmon and steelhead stocks onto a recovery trajectory has already begun to draw some heat.
Targeted particularly is the leg that addresses hydro system impacts on the Columbia/Snake river basin fish.
Four Columbia River basin tribes and three federal agencies say years of divisiveness over salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin ended May 2 with the signing of agreements designed to deliver specific, scientifically valid biological benefits for the region’s fish.
The federal government’s combination of “biological opinions” to govern the recovery of 13 listed salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin includes for the first time the state of Montana’s desired dam operations.
An upriver spring chinook salmon spawning run that has proceeded in fits and starts up the Columbia and Snake rivers is almost certainly late and smaller in number than had been predicted in preseason, according to fishery officials.
A three-meeting tug-o-war was settled over the past week by Mother Nature, which released enough water from mountain snowpacks to keep Lake Roosevelt ferry boats afloat and boost Columbia River flows carrying juvenile salmon and steelhead toward the Pacific Ocean.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking public comments on the seventh annual report to the Northwest governors on Bonneville Power Administration expenditures to implement the Council’s program to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin.
Water releases from central Idaho’s Dworshak Dam were ratcheted down to some degree Wednesday evening as fish and hydro system managers tried to strike a balance between providing flow augmentation now for migrating juvenile steelhead and salmon and assuring a maximum store of water to help returning adult fish this summer.
NOAA’s Fisheries Service released today three interwoven “biological opinions” that represent what the agency says is the most comprehensive strategy yet developed to protect listed 13 Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead species and lift them toward recovery.
NOAA’s Fisheries Service released today three interwoven “biological opinions” that represent what the agency says is the most comprehensive strategy yet developed to protect listed 13 Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead species and lift them toward recovery.
Federal scientists believe that natural forces — unfavorable ocean conditions — were the most influential factors in the infamous collapse of Sacramento fall chinook salmon fortunes last year, and the record low return forecast this year.
Habitat improvements charted under a new memorandum of agreement between federal agencies and tribes could more than double, in a few cases, the survival of protected salmon and steelhead from the egg to smolt stage, according to biological analysis produced by the Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes.
The National Weather Service is projecting that there will be flooding in western Montana because of a stubborn mountain snowpack.
Federal scientists believe that natural forces — unfavorable ocean conditions — were the most influential factors in the infamous collapse of Sacramento fall chinook salmon fortunes last year, and the record low return forecast this year.
Habitat improvements charted under a new memorandum of agreement between federal agencies and tribes could more than double, in a few cases, the survival of protected salmon and steelhead from the egg to smolt stage, according to biological analysis produced by the Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes.
The National Weather Service is projecting that there will be flooding in western Montana because of a stubborn mountain snowpack.
With legal battles looming in the background, the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife on Thursday launched efforts to trap and remove California sea lions that have made a habit of feasting on spawning salmon in the turbulent waters below the lower Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
Four draft memorandums of agreement announced this month that pledge nearly $1 billion in Columbia River basin fish and wildlife funding over the next 10 years have drawn some praise, much criticism and threats of continued, rather than reduced, litigation in the region.
Just 10 days before a new Federal Columbia River Power system “biological opinion” is scheduled to spring to life, a federal appeals court panel has declared its predecessor officially dead, again.
The Northwest now has an early-warning system for potential electricity shortages and high prices to consumers.
With legal battles looming in the background, the Washington and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife on Thursday launched efforts to trap and remove California sea lions that have made a habit of feasting on spawning salmon in the turbulent waters below the lower Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
Four draft memorandums of agreement announced this month that pledge nearly $1 billion in Columbia River basin fish and wildlife funding over the next 10 years have drawn some praise, much criticism and threats of continued, rather than reduced, litigation in the region.
Just 10 days before a new Federal Columbia River Power system “biological opinion” is scheduled to spring to life, a federal appeals court panel has declared its predecessor officially dead, again.
The Northwest now has an early-warning system for potential electricity shortages and high prices to consumers.
A federal judge on Wednesday denied an attempt to block the planned removal, by lethal means or otherwise, of California sea lions feasting on protected salmon in the waters below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week began discussing how it will handle a flood of recommendations for amending its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
A federal judge on Wednesday denied an attempt to block the planned removal, by lethal means or otherwise, of California sea lions feasting on protected salmon in the waters below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week began discussing how it will handle a flood of recommendations for amending its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved a new long-term license for Grant PUD’s continued ownership and operation of the Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams on the Columbia River.
CBB SHORTS: NOAA March Climate Report; Idaho Spring Salmon Season; Limiting Lake Billy Chinook Kokanee; Reintroducing Salmon to Upper Klamath; NOAA’s New Marine Sanctuary Website
The Bonneville Power Administration this week announced draft agreements with four Columbia River basin tribes, and the states of Idaho and Montana, that would guarantee $980.5 million in funding for fish and wildlife projects over the next 10 years in exchange for support of the federal hydro system salmon recovery strategy.
A total of nearly $1 billion in fish and wildlife project funding promises either moves toward a more unified and successful Columbia River basin salmon restoration effort, or, depending on the perspective, attempts to dodge biological and legal truths.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council and staff, and parties interested in commenting, are set to pore through an avalanche of materials submitted as recommended amendments to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
Any trapping and removal of California sea lions feeding on salmon below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam will be postponed while a tightly scheduled legal fight is waged in Portland’s U.S. District Court.
A total of 35,000 cracker shells, rubber bullets and seal bombs were fired off last year in what was a doubling of the effort to discourage sea lion predation on salmon and steelhead below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
It’ll be late in coming, but its looks like the mountains that dot the Columbia River basin landscape will deliver an “average” water supply of water for the region’s fish, drinkers, irrigators, hydro producers and others.
The Bonneville Power Administration this week announced draft agreements with four Columbia River basin tribes, and the states of Idaho and Montana, that would guarantee $980.5 million in funding for fish and wildlife projects over the next 10 years in exchange for support of the federal hydro system salmon recovery strategy.
A total of nearly $1 billion in fish and wildlife project funding promises either moves toward a more unified and successful Columbia River basin salmon restoration effort, or, depending on the perspective, attempts to dodge biological and legal truths.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council and staff, and parties interested in commenting, are set to pore through an avalanche of materials submitted as recommended amendments to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
Any trapping and removal of California sea lions feeding on salmon below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam will be postponed while a tightly scheduled legal fight is waged in Portland’s U.S. District Court.
A total of 35,000 cracker shells, rubber bullets and seal bombs were fired off last year in what was a doubling of the effort to discourage sea lion predation on salmon and steelhead below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
It’ll be late in coming, but its looks like the mountains that dot the Columbia River basin landscape will deliver an “average” water supply of water for the region’s fish, drinkers, irrigators, hydro producers and others.
An agreement submitted this week in federal court would postpone planned actions to kill California sea lions feeding on migrating salmon below the lower Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam but allow the marine mammals’ capture and transfer to zoos and aquariums across the country.
More spring chinook salmon are beginning to show up at the lower Columbia’s Bonneville Dam and, right on cue, the numbers of predatory California sea lions present below the hydro project are growing as well.
A human-caused “pulse” of water has begun gushing down the Middle Fork Willamette River as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, searches for flow strategies that will improve conditions for fish and wildlife downstream.
A 199-acre tract of land zoned for two-acre residential development near Philomath, Ore., will now be permanently protected wildlife habitat, thanks to the efforts of the landowner, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Greenbelt Land Trust.
An agreement submitted this week in federal court would postpone planned actions to kill California sea lions feeding on migrating salmon below the lower Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam but allow the marine mammals’ capture and transfer to zoos and aquariums across the country.
More spring chinook salmon are beginning to show up at the lower Columbia’s Bonneville Dam and, right on cue, the numbers of predatory California sea lions present below the hydro project are growing as well.
A human-caused “pulse” of water has begun gushing down the Middle Fork Willamette River as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, searches for flow strategies that will improve conditions for fish and wildlife downstream.
A 199-acre tract of land zoned for two-acre residential development near Philomath, Ore., will now be permanently protected wildlife habitat, thanks to the efforts of the landowner, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Greenbelt Land Trust.
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced the availability of the Odessa Subarea Special Study, which investigates replacing current groundwater use in the Odessa Ground Water Management Subarea with surface water from the Columbia Basin Project.
Fish advocates say a plan to lethally remove California sea lions from base of the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam is a reasoned approach for reducing the predatory marine mammals’ impacts on returning salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide during its April 7-12 meeting in Seattle how it wants West Coast salmon fisheries managed this year off the Oregon, Washington and California coasts.
Caspian terns winging their way to the Columbia River estuary will find their prized nesting habitat downsized this year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to encourage some of the salmon eating birds to settle elsewhere.
Three technical documents that underpin NOAA Fisheries’ developing Columbia/Snake river hydro system BiOp and recovery planning are scientifically sound, for the most part, but in need of some shoring up, according to a review completed March 7 by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board.
Fish advocates say a plan to lethally remove California sea lions from base of the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam is a reasoned approach for reducing the predatory marine mammals’ impacts on returning salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Caspian terns winging their way to the Columbia River estuary will find their prized nesting habitat downsized this year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an attempt to encourage some of the salmon eating birds to settle elsewhere.
Three technical documents that underpin NOAA Fisheries’ developing Columbia/Snake river hydro system BiOp and recovery planning are scientifically sound, for the most part, but in need of some shoring up, according to a review completed March 7 by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne this week announced more than $57.9 million in grants to 23 states and one territory — including $12.3 million to states in the Pacific Region — to support conservation planning and acquisition of habitat for threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council could as soon as next month trigger a new, multi-phased fish and wildlife project selection process that would stretch into the winter of 2011.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council could as soon as next month trigger a new, multi-phased fish and wildlife project selection process that would stretch into the winter of 2011.
CBB SHORTS: Coolest Winter Since 2001; Ratings For BPA Bonds; No Listing For Wolverine; Idaho Annual Wolf Report; Lake Chelan Dam Projects
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week made a one-time offer to spill water at Bonneville Dam to provide an extra passage option for migrating juvenile “tule” fall chinook released from Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery.
Forty years of public efforts aimed at enhancing fish and wildlife slowed, deliberately, to a crawl last month for Frank “Larry” Cassidy with his exit from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
A familiar figure on the Columbia River basin salmon recovery scene has taken a much broader role with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week made a one-time offer to spill water at Bonneville Dam to provide an extra passage option for migrating juvenile “tule” fall chinook released from Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery.
Forty years of public efforts aimed at enhancing fish and wildlife slowed, deliberately, to a crawl last month for Frank “Larry” Cassidy with his exit from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
A familiar figure on the Columbia River basin salmon recovery scene has taken a much broader role with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Witt Anderson was recently chosen to lead a $3 billion annual program of water resource projects, military construction, and environmental restoration activities throughout the Columbia and Missouri river basins.
— From John McKern, Walla Walla, Wash.:
In reference your lead article in CBB, 02/29/2008: REDDEN SETS SPILL, TRANSPORTATION REGIMES FOR 2008 HYDRO OPERATIONS
U.S District Court Judge James A. Redden made it official Monday. Federal Columbia River Power System hydro projects this spring and summer will be operated, with a few adjustments, according to the terms of an agreement that outlined regimes for the spilling of water to accommodate salmon and steelhead migrations last year.
The perennial debate about whether or not to spill water at Bonneville Dam to facilitate downstream passage of juvenile tule fall chinook released upstream from Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery bounced from one arena to the next this week.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council earlier this month recommended $1 million in spending in fiscal year 2008 to expand the work of five ongoing Columbia River basin fish and wildlife projects, and support two endeavors that had not been funded through the Council’s program previously.
Enough electricity generation to meet loads exists in the Pacific Northwest for the next decade but much of it is in the hands of independent power producers, not utilities, says the Bonneville Power Administration.
For this year at least, the state of Montana won’t get its way when it comes to operations at Libby and Hungry Horse Dams because of a recent federal court ruling.
U.S District Court Judge James A. Redden made it official Monday. Federal Columbia River Power System hydro projects this spring and summer will be operated, with a few adjustments, according to the terms of an agreement that outlined regimes for the spilling of water to accommodate salmon and steelhead migrations last year.
The perennial debate about whether or not to spill water at Bonneville Dam to facilitate downstream passage of juvenile tule fall chinook released upstream from Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery bounced from one arena to the next this week.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council earlier this month recommended $1 million in spending in fiscal year 2008 to expand the work of five ongoing Columbia River basin fish and wildlife projects, and support two endeavors that had not been funded through the Council’s program previously.
Enough electricity generation to meet loads exists in the Pacific Northwest for the next decade but much of it is in the hands of independent power producers, not utilities, says the Bonneville Power Administration.
For this year at least, the state of Montana won’t get its way when it comes to operations at Libby and Hungry Horse Dams because of a recent federal court ruling.
But the ruling included cause for optimism for Bruce Measure, one of Montana’s two representatives on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
CBB SHORTS: Oregon Redband Trout; Lynx Critical Habitat Proposal; New Status Review for Sage-Grouse; Funds for National Forest Watersheds; Emergency Response Exercises at Columbia Dams; Idaho Wolf Plan
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden today said he would turn aside suggested changes to a federal proposal that would dictate how the Columbia/Snake river hydro system will be operated to accommodate migrating salmon during the coming spring and summer.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking public comments on a proposed standard for future electricity supplies that should serve as an early warning about the potential for future shortages in the Northwest.
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden today said he would turn aside suggested changes to a federal proposal that would dictate how the Columbia/Snake river hydro system will be operated to accommodate migrating salmon during the coming spring and summer.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is seeking public comments on a proposed standard for future electricity supplies that should serve as an early warning about the potential for future shortages in the Northwest.
Pacific lamprey face all the same perils as salmon in the Columbia River basin.
But they don’t get nearly as much love — except from members of Columbia basin tribes, who have long considered the eel look-a-likes a cultural icon on par with the salmon.
The Pacific lamprey has little or no economic value, and is little sought after by the fishing public.
And they aren’t pretty, having a round, elongate, flexible cartilaginous body, skin with no scales that is slimy to the touch and down-turned mouths adapted for clinging and sucking.
A man with an unrelenting passion for catching salmon — and for assuring there will always be Columbia River basin salmon to catch — last month joined an elite list that includes Izaak Walton, Ernest Hemingway, Ted Williams and Ole Evinrude.
Pacific lamprey face all the same perils as salmon in the Columbia River basin.
But they don’t get nearly as much love — except from members of Columbia basin tribes, who have long considered the eel look-a-likes a cultural icon on par with the salmon.
The Pacific lamprey has little or no economic value, and is little sought after by the fishing public.
And they aren’t pretty, having a round, elongate, flexible cartilaginous body, skin with no scales that is slimy to the touch and down-turned mouths adapted for clinging and sucking.
A man with an unrelenting passion for catching salmon — and for assuring there will always be Columbia River basin salmon to catch — last month joined an elite list that includes Izaak Walton, Ernest Hemingway, Ted Williams and Ole Evinrude.
CBB SHORTS: Spotted Owl Review; Priest Rapids Project Report; Bonneville Cutthroat Status
* From James R. Esch, USFWS, Boise:
Your story on salmon extinctions has an inaccuracy that I would like to comment on.
An estimated 29 percent of the nearly 1,400 historical salmon and steelhead “populations” that once that once ranged the West Coast have been lost since Euro-American appearance in California and the Pacific Northwest, according to a research paper published in the August edition of Conservation Biology.
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden on Tuesday granted the government’s request for a 45-day extension of the time allotted for finishing biological opinions on whether federal hydro and irrigation projects jeopardize the survival of protected salmon and steelhead.
The past is no longer a reliable base on which to plan the future of water management.
So says a paper by a prominent group of hydrologists and climatologists, published Thursday in Science, that calls for fundamental changes to the science behind water planning and policy.
A blossoming predator control program is helping the Chelan County Public Utility District deliver on its pledge to ensure 93 percent juvenile salmon and steelhead survival from just below the trailrace of one Mid-Columbia River hydro project to below the tailrace of the next.
An estimated 29 percent of the nearly 1,400 historical salmon and steelhead “populations” that once that once ranged the West Coast have been lost since Euro-American appearance in California and the Pacific Northwest, according to a research paper published in the August edition of Conservation Biology.
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden on Tuesday granted the government’s request for a 45-day extension of the time allotted for finishing biological opinions on whether federal hydro and irrigation projects jeopardize the survival of protected salmon and steelhead.
The past is no longer a reliable base on which to plan the future of water management.
So says a paper by a prominent group of hydrologists and climatologists, published Thursday in Science, that calls for fundamental changes to the science behind water planning and policy.
A blossoming predator control program is helping the Chelan County Public Utility District deliver on its pledge to ensure 93 percent juvenile salmon and steelhead survival from just below the trailrace of one Mid-Columbia River hydro project to below the tailrace of the next.
Responding appropriately to a wealth of comment on its draft Federal Columbia River Power system biological opinion will require more time than anticipated, according to the NOAA Fisheries Service.
Though mainstem Columbia/Snake River fish passage issues — flow, spill, improvements at the dams — get most of the attention, smaller-scale efforts to improve fish passage in the Basin’s upper tributaries are just as important in the regional effort to recover salmon and steelhead populations.
Responding appropriately to a wealth of comment on its draft Federal Columbia River Power system biological opinion will require more time than anticipated, according to the NOAA Fisheries Service.
Though mainstem Columbia/Snake River fish passage issues — flow, spill, improvements at the dams — get most of the attention, smaller-scale efforts to improve fish passage in the Basin’s upper tributaries are just as important in the regional effort to recover salmon and steelhead populations.
A draft federal document released Thursday proposes to allow the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington to trap and euthanize predatory California sea lions, or shoot free ranging marine mammals, in specified areas below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam as a means of reducing their impact on spring chinook salmon and steelhead.
The Technical Management Team’s fishery and hydro managers made up the audience Wednesday for “the rollout of the rollover” — a draft 2008 spill and transportation plan for the Federal Columbia River Power system that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Rudd Turner says will mimic 2007 operations.
In response to a flurry of requests, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday approved a 60-day extension of the deadline for submitting recommendations for amendments to its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday recommended a $2.4 million annual package for fish and wildlife “coordination” activities after hearing differing rationale about how much money is needed, and how it should be apportioned.
Scientists at Portland State University and the University of Washington have jointly completed the first targeted survey of nonnative aquatic plants and animals in the middle Columbia River — Bonneville Dam to Priest Rapids Dam — and the lower Snake River upstream to the Washington-Idaho border.
The gavel changed hands this week with Idaho’s Bill Booth taking over as chairman of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The first official prediction of the 2008 “fuel supply” for the largest source of hydropower in the Northwest — Columbia River runoff — is optimistic, according to analysis by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Representatives of diverse communities in the Klamath Basin, working with federal, state, and county governments, have developed a Proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement aimed at rebuilding fisheries, sustaining agriculture, and resolving other longstanding disputes related to the allocation of water resources.
A draft federal document released Thursday proposes to allow the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington to trap and euthanize predatory California sea lions, or shoot free ranging marine mammals, in specified areas below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam as a means of reducing their impact on spring chinook salmon and steelhead.
The Technical Management Team’s fishery and hydro managers made up the audience Wednesday for “the rollout of the rollover” — a draft 2008 spill and transportation plan for the Federal Columbia River Power system that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Rudd Turner says will mimic 2007 operations.
In response to a flurry of requests, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday approved a 60-day extension of the deadline for submitting recommendations for amendments to its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday recommended a $2.4 million annual package for fish and wildlife “coordination” activities after hearing differing rationale about how much money is needed, and how it should be apportioned.
Scientists at Portland State University and the University of Washington have jointly completed the first targeted survey of nonnative aquatic plants and animals in the middle Columbia River — Bonneville Dam to Priest Rapids Dam — and the lower Snake River upstream to the Washington-Idaho border.
The gavel changed hands this week with Idaho’s Bill Booth taking over as chairman of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The first official prediction of the 2008 “fuel supply” for the largest source of hydropower in the Northwest — Columbia River runoff — is optimistic, according to analysis by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Representatives of diverse communities in the Klamath Basin, working with federal, state, and county governments, have developed a Proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement aimed at rebuilding fisheries, sustaining agriculture, and resolving other longstanding disputes related to the allocation of water resources.
NOAA Fisheries Oct. 30 draft biological opinions on Columbia/Snake River hydro projects and Upper Snake River irrigation projects fill more than 2,100 pages, including appendices and the BiOps’ scientific foundation, the “Supplemental Comprehensive Analysis.”
Fiscal year 2007-2009 fish and wildlife project funding decisions stand, at least for now, according to a Dec. 31 letter from the Bonneville Power Administration written in response to suggestions that an additional $28 million might be needed to meet “critical needs.”
NOAA Fisheries Oct. 30 draft biological opinions on Columbia/Snake River hydro projects and Upper Snake River irrigation projects fill more than 2,100 pages, including appendices and the BiOps’ scientific foundation, the “Supplemental Comprehensive Analysis.”
Fiscal year 2007-2009 fish and wildlife project funding decisions stand, at least for now, according to a Dec. 31 letter from the Bonneville Power Administration written in response to suggestions that an additional $28 million might be needed to meet “critical needs.”
An ever-evolving “rapid response plan” previewed Thursday aims to marshal available forces quickly and efficiently to combat any identified Columbia River basin invasion of environment- and economy-changing zebra and quagga mussels.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Northwest Water Management organization is girding for some changes, with technical experts shipped from the divisional epicenter in Portland to district offices, and the divisional staff reduced overall.
An ever-evolving “rapid response plan” previewed Thursday aims to marshal available forces quickly and efficiently to combat any identified Columbia River basin invasion of environment- and economy-changing zebra and quagga mussels.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Northwest Water Management organization is girding for some changes, with technical experts shipped from the divisional epicenter in Portland to district offices, and the divisional staff reduced overall.
Despite a relatively light early-season snowpack across the Columbia River basin, water supply forecasters are predicting that the region’s streams will provide near or above average volumes for fish, hydro generation, irrigation and other uses next spring and summer.
The Nez Perce Tribe announced Wednesday that it will cash in some sweat equity, as well as a larger share of its treaty right, with commercial efforts this winter targeting steelhead on the Snake and Clearwater rivers.
Implementation of the draft federal Columbia/Snake river hydro system operations would cost about $25 million more per year on average than the previous strategy and could spike as high as $100 million when water is in short supply, according to preliminary analysis previewed last week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council staff.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery report released Wednesday advises changes ranging from a reduction in the number of tule fall chinook raised at Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery to termination of upriver bright fall chinook releases at Little White Salmon hatchery to increasing access to fishing sites.
With congressional funding limbo, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council at its meeting last week recommended that $1.3 million be spent through its fish and wildlife program to complete the Columbia River Hatchery Review process.
Implementation of a Snake River fall chinook “transportation” study in 2008, and beyond, edged closer to certainty with eggs now in hand to produce the needed juvenile fish and most other related issues resolved.
A lower white sturgeon harvest will be allowed on the lower Columbia River because recreational fisheries this year hauled in more of the big fish than Oregon-Washington guidelines allow, according to state fishery officials.
Despite a relatively light early-season snowpack across the Columbia River basin, water supply forecasters are predicting that the region’s streams will provide near or above average volumes for fish, hydro generation, irrigation and other uses next spring and summer.
The Nez Perce Tribe announced Wednesday that it will cash in some sweat equity, as well as a larger share of its treaty right, with commercial efforts this winter targeting steelhead on the Snake and Clearwater rivers.
Implementation of the draft federal Columbia/Snake river hydro system operations would cost about $25 million more per year on average than the previous strategy and could spike as high as $100 million when water is in short supply, according to preliminary analysis previewed last week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council staff.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery report released Wednesday advises changes ranging from a reduction in the number of tule fall chinook raised at Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery to termination of upriver bright fall chinook releases at Little White Salmon hatchery to increasing access to fishing sites.
With congressional funding limbo, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council at its meeting last week recommended that $1.3 million be spent through its fish and wildlife program to complete the Columbia River Hatchery Review process.
Implementation of a Snake River fall chinook “transportation” study in 2008, and beyond, edged closer to certainty with eggs now in hand to produce the needed juvenile fish and most other related issues resolved.
A lower white sturgeon harvest will be allowed on the lower Columbia River because recreational fisheries this year hauled in more of the big fish than Oregon-Washington guidelines allow, according to state fishery officials.
CBB SHORTS: Hydro Ops For Chum; Transporting Steelhead on Umatilla River; Spotted Owl Science; Oregon Fish Pathologist Honored
Despite grim warnings issued prior to a Wednesday in-court status conference, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden expressed hope that an ongoing collaboration and due diligence by the federal agencies in exploring its options can produce a legally and scientifically defensible Columbia Basin salmon protection plan.
Attorneys representing Columbia River basin tribes and states, and other interests told a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday that a collaboration with federal agencies went well in many regards in developing future protections for threatened salmon and steelhead that ply the river’s hydro system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Thursday signaled its support for the recently released draft biological opinions for the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system and upper Snake irrigation projects, and offered help in implementing the plans for resurrecting threatened salmon and steelhead stocks.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Wednesday recommended funding of from $800,000 to $900,000 annually during fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for portions of the Comparative Survival Study, a project coordinated by the Fish Passage Center.
Despite grim warnings issued prior to a Wednesday in-court status conference, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden expressed hope that an ongoing collaboration and due diligence by the federal agencies in exploring its options can produce a legally and scientifically defensible Columbia Basin salmon protection plan.
Attorneys representing Columbia River basin tribes and states, and other interests told a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday that a collaboration with federal agencies went well in many regards in developing future protections for threatened salmon and steelhead that ply the river’s hydro system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Thursday signaled its support for the recently released draft biological opinions for the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system and upper Snake irrigation projects, and offered help in implementing the plans for resurrecting threatened salmon and steelhead stocks.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Wednesday recommended funding of from $800,000 to $900,000 annually during fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for portions of the Comparative Survival Study, a project coordinated by the Fish Passage Center.
The Washington State Department of Ecology is beginning preparation of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Releases Project — formerly called Lake Roosevelt Drawdown Project.
A huge area of southeastern Washington — the Palouse and Middle Snake watersheds — now has approved plans to guide how water is managed in. The next step is to put those plans into effect.
The much debated strategy of transporting migrating fish downstream through the Columbia/Snake river federal dams continues to be studied from numerous angles via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anadromous Fish Evaluation Program.
The Snake River fall chinook salmon’s dual life history remains a mystery, but research is ongoing that could produce some clarity.
Updates on two such studies were heard Wednesday during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anadromous Fish Evaluation Program annual research review.
There will be much to talk about in court next week, and much to fix before a draft NOAA Fisheries’ biological opinion on the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system goes final, according to comments filed in U.S. District Court Friday (Nov. 30) by the state of Oregon, Columbia Basin tribes and the plaintiffs in the long-running lawsuit.
Does sea lion predation in the Columbia River have a greater impact on some stocks, including protected species, than others?
Yes, and it’s all in the timing, according research undertaken this year by the University of Idaho in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The much debated strategy of transporting migrating fish downstream through the Columbia/Snake river federal dams continues to be studied from numerous angles via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anadromous Fish Evaluation Program.
The Snake River fall chinook salmon’s dual life history remains a mystery, but research is ongoing that could produce some clarity.
Updates on two such studies were heard Wednesday during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anadromous Fish Evaluation Program annual research review.
There will be much to talk about in court next week, and much to fix before a draft NOAA Fisheries’ biological opinion on the federal Columbia/Snake hydro system goes final, according to comments filed in U.S. District Court Friday (Nov. 30) by the state of Oregon, Columbia Basin tribes and the plaintiffs in the long-running lawsuit.
Does sea lion predation in the Columbia River have a greater impact on some stocks, including protected species, than others?
Yes, and it’s all in the timing, according research undertaken this year by the University of Idaho in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The oft-scrutinized Comparative Survival Study team’s methods and aims received mostly positive reviews in a scientific report released last week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
A Nov. 21 letter from the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority suggests that as much as $56 million worth of “critical” fish and wildlife project funding needs be fitted into a looming federal power rate calculation process.
The oft-scrutinized Comparative Survival Study team’s methods and aims received mostly positive reviews in a scientific report released last week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
A Nov. 21 letter from the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority suggests that as much as $56 million worth of “critical” fish and wildlife project funding needs be fitted into a looming federal power rate calculation process.
Many of the details have been worked out, but funding and scope issues remain to be settled before a long-sought study can be launched to determine the best path to the ocean — transportation aboard barges or in-river — for migrating juvenile Snake River fall chinook salmon.
Participants in long-running litigation will meet in federal court Dec. 12 to discuss “issues” arising from the latest federal plan for protecting for Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has had, and will continue to have, a “major” role in efforts to assure that 13 listed Columbia/Snake river salmon stocks aren’t jeopardized by the federal hydro system and are indeed lifted toward recovery, according to the NOAA Fisheries Service’s Northwest regional administrator.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week recommended more than $364,000 in spending for within-year fish and wildlife project budget requests, including $160,000 in startup “coordination” funding for the newly formed Upper Snake River Tribes.
The Bonneville Power Administration’s annual report released this week shows the agency continued to earn strong modified net revenues in fiscal year 2007, despite water runoff that was 89 percent of average.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week approved the final draft of its Power Division’s “Carbon Dioxide Footprint of the Northwest Power System” paper, which charts steadily growing outputs of the greenhouse gas and details what might be done to curb that growth.
Federal officials this week said that a better scientific understanding of the fish and their needs, and an infusion of resources to meet those needs over the next 10 years, will lift 13 threatened or endangered Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead stocks toward recovery.
Initial impressions this week of a “draft” federal Columbia River Basin salmon protection strategy ranged from sharp criticisms of the tome, to praise, to “wait and see” attitudes.
Despite scientific and economic rebuffs, Montana’s Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes continue to pin hopes on fishing contests to restore ecological balance in the Flathead Lake/River system.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week distributed by letter its “Request For Recommendations to Amend the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.”
NOAA Fisheries Service today released two draft biological opinions which determine that federal Columbia/Snake River hydropower and irrigation projects do not jeopardize the survival of 13 salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
One of the documents released today is a “case study” of Tucannon River chinook salmon, which NOAA Fisheries says illustrates the “All-H” analytic approach at the population level.
Tribes say they will work to improve the draft salmon recovery plan issued today, while industry and river-user interests said the new plan is science-based and a significant improvement over past plans.
Public comments suggested tinkering, expanded analysis and scope and other fine-tuning, but, overall, most judged the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s draft “Carbon Dioxide Footprint of the Northwest Power System” paper as a needed “dose of reality” for the region.
The latest “removable spillway weir” off the assembly line had smooth passage upstream and by week’s end was being nestled into place with the expectation it will provide smoother downstream passage for migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead next spring and summer.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking volunteers to serve on a new panel that will provide scientific support for implementation of recovery plans developed for Endangered Species Act listed salmon and steelhead.
Mother Nature triggered the last phase of the Marmot Dam removal on the Sandy River last Friday (Oct. 19). As anticipated, the first high- river flows of the season breached the earthen coffer dam that held back water during Portland General Electric’s demolition activities at the site.
Idaho’s four members of Congress joined forces this week in support of appropriations bill language that would require implementation of measures outlined in the soon-to-be defunct 2005 biological opinion on Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects on the upper Snake River.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council decided Wednesday to trigger on Nov. 1 the yearlong process to amend its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
A science-policy “exchange” hosted last month by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council produced few sure answers but did serve its intended goal, highlighting key uncertainties in salmon and steelhead restoration efforts.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Independent Scientific Review Panel sought perspective, and feels it got it, in a recently completed review of 16 fish and wildlife projects being carried out in the Umatilla River subbasin in north-central Oregon.
Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter this week announced the appointment today of Jim Yost, a long-time gubernatorial adviser on natural resources issues, to succeed Jim Kempton as one of two Idaho members of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The Bonneville Power Administration has paid the U.S. Treasury $1.045 billion for fiscal year 2007, which ended September 30.
This is the full, scheduled annual payment, with interest, plus a prepayment on the U.S. taxpayer investment in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), which includes the federal hydropower dams and transmission system.
Technical concerns voiced by resource managers and regulatory agencies may not derail an “innovative” sea lion deterrence experiment, but the project is definitely off the fast track until the issues can be addressed.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes to take the first step in its Caspian tern relocation plan next year in time to lure some of the birds to western Oregon’s Fern Ridge Lake, and away from their favored nesting site in the Columbia River estuary.
NOAA Fisheries Service on Monday announced the adoption of an Endangered Species Act recovery plan for upper Columbia spring-run chinook salmon and upper Columbia River steelhead.
A roiling roadblock to adult salmon passage in late spring at the lower Snake River’s Little Goose Dam has prompted the U.S. Corps of Engineers, with agreement from fish and other hydro managers, to change its strategy for providing surface bypass at the dam.
A subpar 2006-2007 water year in the Columbia River basin, particularly in the upper Snake River region, could serve to dampen the effects of wet and snowy weather in the months ahead.
One phrase — La Nina — kindles hope for people across the Columbia/Snake river basin who rely on hydroelectric power, grow crops, manage fish or otherwise rely on a plentiful water supply.
The 2007 fall chinook salmon return to the Columbia River has been puzzling, and in many respects disappointing, with fewer adult fish making their spawning run than expected.
Northern Idaho’s Lake Pend Oreille will be held at higher than normal levels in hope that its flagging kokanee population can take advantage of newly cleansed spawning beds.
High catch rates in recent weeks have persuaded Washington state officials to extend the reward fishery – designed to reduce the number of northern pikeminnow in the Columbia and river systems – through Oct. 14.
The Trust for Public Land this week announced the purchase of 1,466 acres of mixed conifer and oak woodlands in Polk County, Oregon, that will be afforded permanent protection from development while being maintained as a sustainable working forest.
The British Petroleum Company can expect “a knock-down, drag-out fight” if it advances a proposal to tap coalbed methane seams in the Canadian Flathead, Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus said.
The long-running pursuit of a new federal license to operate three dams in the Snake River’s Hells Canyon entered a new phase this month sans a proposal to provide salmon passage to historic spawning grounds upstream.
Seepage from the envisioned Black Rock Reservoir in south-central Washington would likely course toward the nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation, raising water levels there and “mobilizing” contaminant concentrations that would bleed into the Columbia River, according to a technical report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Reclamation.
The state of Idaho says U.S. courts’ rationale for voiding the federal government’s Columbia River basin salmon protection plan goes contrary to a Supreme Court ruling, as well as an appellate court order.
Removing four lower Snake River federal hydro projects to improve conditions for salmon would be “counterproductive” to efforts to stem the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, according to a paper released Thursday by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council for public review.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday recommended $2.4 million in funding during fiscal years 2008-2009 for five projects that will test new methods and technologies designed to directly benefit fish and wildlife in the Columbia River basin.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has decided to stick with, at least for now, a schedule that will trigger its fish and wildlife program amendment process in November and complete the revisions by late next year.
Federal action agencies Thursday unveiled the “most comprehensive approach ever” to revive protected salmon and steelhead stocks that negotiate the Columbia/Snake river hydro system’s dams and reservoirs.
Efforts to improve the lot of Columbia River salmon and steelhead have increased over the past six years, and so have the costs, according to an “overview” of federal agencies’ newly developed proposal for assuring fish populations aren’t jeopardized by the federal hydro system.
A federal judge this week dismissed claims by Fish Passage Center employees that their constitutional rights had been violated by the Bonneville Power Administration and its administrator during a process aimed at ending funding for the center.
The Bonneville Power Administration has pegged its 2006 fish and wildlife costs at $851.7 million, a total that is the second highest on record and nearly $300 million more than the previous year’s total, according to a draft annual expenditure report produced by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation intend to claim three fourths of the flows in the Umatilla River if federal studies planned over the next year and a half lead to a negotiated water rights settlement.
Widening the divide between hatchery fish and naturally produced salmon can, along with habitat improvements, can achieve Endangered Species Act recovery goals for Lower Columbia River chinook, according to preliminary findings released late last month by the Hatchery Scientific Review Group.
Oregon State University will receive $20.6 million over the next six years to lead a component of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative that will be located in the Pacific Northwest’s coastal ocean.
Spawning steelhead can be quirky in their movements, sometimes stalling in cool water refuges to await more favorable mainstem Columbia River conditions before resuming their summertime march upstream.
A tiny electronic tag from a steelhead in the Columbia River ecosystem was recently discovered in southern New Zealand, almost two years later and 7,700 miles away.
The PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag was recovered from the stomach of a muttonbird, known locally as the “titi” and formally as the sooty shearwater, harvested by indigenous Rakiura Maori people.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council on Tuesday approved a $640,844 infusion to keep on track the remodeling of Idaho’s Eagle Fish Hatchery, and expansion of its sockeye salmon captive broodstock program.
An assessment of the impact of climate change on the state, being launched this week by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group for the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, is the most comprehensive ever.
The Washington Department of Ecology has contracted with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG) to project how climate change will affect stream flows throughout the Columbia River Basin.
The first three Redfish Lake sockeye salmon in what is expected to be, relatively, a bumper crop have completed their 900-mile trek up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon rivers to their origins in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley.
The federal government has opted against joining the state of Idaho in asking reconsideration of an April 9 appellate court opinion that affirmed the illegality of NOAA Fisheries Service’s 2004 biological opinion on the Columbia/Snake hydro system.
A budding initiative hopes to pool proceeds from the sale of state-owned land and federal hydro system mitigation funds to protect valuable wildlife habitat that could be threatened by Idaho’s quickened population growth and development.
With the last of the specially tagged research fish expected to have passed the mid-Columbia River’s McNary Dam, the long-delayed barge transportation of migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead from the hydro project is expected to start Wednesday.
A blast of explosives cracked the concrete face of Marmot Dam this week, beginning its demolition and ushering in a new era for Oregon’s Sandy River Basin.
Despite having a meager water supply to work with, fish and hydro officials have managed to keep water temperatures relatively in check for Snake River juvenile fall chinook migrants through a first summer heat wave.
A pre-emptive strike at the developing federal Columbia/Snake river salmon protection plan was turned back this Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden.
Relief is coming for northwestern Montana rivers and reservoirs tapped deeply each summer to, ostensibly, benefit salmon far away in the lower Columbia River.
But it won’t come this year, federal officials told representatives of the state Tuesday.
Two key, and painstaking, Northwest Power and Conservation Council processes – fish and wildlife program amendments and project selection — will likely launch in the coming months with questions unanswered regarding Endangered Species Act funding responsibilities.
A September “science/policy exchange” focused on four complex subject areas will serve as a prelude to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s planned amendment of its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
The Bonneville Power Administration has distributed to the region and federal court a letter describing “the process that BPA will follow if requested to support a neighboring system’s load/resource imbalance emergency.”
Human safety, and mechanical issues, will prevent the collection and transportation of migrating juvenile fall chinook salmon and steelhead downstream aboard barges from the Mid-Columbia’s McNary Dam to the estuary this summer.
Upriver “spring” chinook salmon are perhaps the most unpredictable of Columbia/Snake River salmon stocks.
But one positive signal of the relative strength of next year’s adult run comes from near-record counts of “jack” spring chinook this year.
The state of Montana and Columbia River basin salmon managers are at loggerheads, yet again, with competing plans for tapping Lake Koocanusa this summer.
Before burning that $3 per gallon gas on a trip to buy fresh-caught salmon, it’s best to check with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s harvest hotline.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
