Free Republic

Four Northwest Republican lawmakers asked the federal government to share details of “secretive negotiations” between the government and environmental groups that have called for the removal of dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. In a Nov. 20 letter to Brenda Mallory, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the lawmakers reminded the White House that Congress has the authority to weigh in on President Joe Biden’s potential removal of dams in the Columbia River Basin to rebuild salmon runs. “In addition to expecting the immediate transmittal of the proposed USG commitments, we find it necessary to remind you Congress...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Stone tools and other artifacts unearthed from an archaeological dig at the Cooper’s Ferry site in western Idaho suggest that people lived in the area 16,000 years ago, more than a thousand years earlier than scientists previously thought. The artifacts would be considered among the earliest evidence of people in North America. The findings, published today in Science, add weight to the hypothesis that initial human migration to the Americas followed a Pacific coastal route rather than through the opening of an inland ice-free corridor, said Loren Davis, a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University and...

BOISE, Idaho — More than 1,100 sea lions could be killed annually along a stretch of the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border to boost faltering populations of salmon and steelhead, federal officials said Friday. The National Marine Fisheries Service said it’s taking public comments through Oct. 29 on the plan requested by Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Native American tribes. The agency says billions of dollars on habitat restoration, fish passage at dams and other efforts have been spent in the three states in the last several decades to save 13 species of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead protected under...

Nearly two decades after the ancient skeleton called Kennewick Man was discovered on the banks of the Columbia River, the mystery of his origins appears to be nearing resolution. Genetic analysis is still under way in Denmark, but documents obtained through the federal Freedom of Information Act say preliminary results point to a Native-American heritage.The researchers performing the DNA analysis “feel that Kennewick has normal, standard Native-American genetics,” according to a 2013 email to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for the care and management of the bones. “At present there is no indication he has a...

<p>EPHRATA, Wash. (AP) - A crack in a Columbia River dam is a concern for not only for the owner - the Grant County Public Utility District - but also for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Bonneville Power Administration, which manage the Northwest power supply.</p>

(Reuters) - A tiny fish characterized by a disproportionately large head and previously unknown to scientists has been found in mountain rivers of Idaho and Montana in what biologists said on Thursday marked a rare discovery. The new aquatic species is a type of freshwater sculpin, a class of fish that dwell at the bottom of cold, swiftly flowing streams throughout North America and are known for their oversized head and shoulder structure. "The discovery of a new fish is something I never thought would happen in my career because it's very rare in the United States," said Michael Young,...

Complete title: Sea lion task force to weigh in on whether to kill and remove sea lions feasting on fish at Bonneville Dam The sea lion task force returns to the drawing board next week. Their task: to recommend to kill and remove sea lions feasting on endangered salmon below Bonneville Dam this spring -- or not. The controversial lethal-take policy has been on-again, off-again since first approved in 2008. The 16-member federal task force wants to hammer out issues early and avoid the problems of last November when a federal appeals court effectively blocked the permit. The task force...

Contractors are now planning to dismantle the beached and broken Davy Crockett right where it sits. Workers will encircle the 431-foot barge with a cofferdam, forming an enclosed area, and take it apart piece by piece. The original plan of floating it away to a dry dock proved to be untenable, marking another setback in an operation that’s already the most expensive shipwreck in Washington history. Until this week, federal and state authorities had been planning to cut the ship in two and float both halves away to a dry dock. But officials said they were unable to reach agreements...

Getting the derelict barge Davy Crockett out of the Columbia River will take at least 75 more days, Coast Guard officials say, with costs probably topping $7.5 million. The Coast Guard, Oregon and Washington officials and contractor Ballard Diving & Salvage are trying to stabilize the 431-foot-long vessel, remove debris and machinery, patch holes and drain fuel before it leaks. Tentative plans include cutting the rusting hulk at least in two and towing the pieces to a ship yard or dry dock for dismantling. The work has cost $5.3 million to date, with a total of $7.5 million anticipated to...

Contractors have yet to formulate plan to remove Davy Crockett from Columbia Camas, Washington - Contractors have rung up $5.3 million in costs for the beached and broken barge Davy Crockett, as of the end of last week. And that’s before they’ve even formulated a plan for removing the 431-foot derelict from the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas. Workers have cleared away enough debris that divers were able to safely access fuel tanks at the bottom of the vessel. They found what was described as remnant amounts of heavy bunker fuel, which has the consistency...

This report analyzes the forecast accuracy, financial costs, and financial risks associated with the proposed Columbia River Crossing Project. It reaches three principal conclusions: 1) the traffic forecasts on which project finances are based are inaccurate and unreliable; 2) the thirty-year cost of building and operating the CRC will be at least double the $4 billion estimated and could reach $10 billion or more; 3) the project will necessitate a huge increase in bonded public debt and poses substantial additional financial risks including mega-project cost overruns. 1. CRC traffic forecasts are inaccurate. CRC forecasts grossly over-estimate the traffic growth on...

Camas, Washington - The U.S. Coast Guard will step in to dismantle and remove the beached and broken barge Davy Crockett, now languishing on the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas. Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was pleased by the Coast Guard’s announcement on Thursday. “The issue remains of how we improve the monitoring and management of large derelict vessels so that we avoid these types of costly and intensive response efforts in the future,” Gregoire said in a prepared statement. State authorities have attributed the sad state of the 431-foot converted barge — beached, broken...

(Camas, Washington) The ugly demise of the beached and broken Davy Crockett, now the subject of a multimillion-dollar federal recovery effort, unfolded only after years of neglect. The former Liberty ship has languished for almost two decades along the north bank of the Columbia River between Vancouver and Camas. At one point, a former owner warned the U.S. Coast Guard that the 431-foot vessel appeared to be at risk of coming loose from its mooring and careening into the nearby shipping channel. However, little changed except the vessel’s ownership. By the end of last year, benign neglect evolved to active...

With the spring primaries only weeks away, most voters probably assume that elected leaders seeking new terms have been busy representing us and leading this state into the future. Seems simple enough. But what, more precisely, do we expect? For starters, showing up, not lying and obeying the law, but that goes for every citizen. Certainly we expect more of leaders. At a minimum, we should expect them to pay attention to the long-term needs of our state, and the long-term consequences of the decisions made today to meet needs now and likely to emerge. You and I get to...

The Obama administration said Tuesday the federal government's salmon and dam plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers, with modifications, will not jeopardize endangered salmon and steelhead. A drop in the populations of the endangered salmon and steelhead in the region would trigger a new review of the recovery efforts and a consideration of alternatives including breaching four dams on the lower Snake River. But the administration said that the so called biological opinion, "combined with the implementation plan, is legally and biologically sound and based on the best available science." It would order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

A federal judge this week gave the go-ahead to kill sea lions feasting on salmon at Bonneville Dam, but a Washington state fishery manager said Wednesday that managers will continue to try to trap and relocate the animals first. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman on Tuesday ruled against the Humane Society of the United States, which sued to block the lethal-take permit issued to state fishery managers earlier this year by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The states want to kill nuisance sea lions that have in recent years taken advantage of a man-made bottleneck to devour imperiled salmon. “We’re...

HORSETHIEF LAKE, Wash. -- Fidelia Andy was a 6-year-old happily running coffee to tribal fishermen at Celilo Falls when the federal government signed a deal with the tribes that flooded the falls and her family's home in the rising waters behind The Dalles Dam. On Friday, more than 50 years later, Andy and other leaders of four Northwest tribes finalized a new $900 million agreement with the federal government that they hope will begin to reverse the damage done by Columbia River system dams. "We Indians gave up so much in the past," Andy, a Yakama tribal leader and chairwoman...

If the British and French can design and build spectacular bridges at a modest or at least reasonable cost, why can’t we? Or maybe we can, but we haven’t tried it lately, at least not in Oregon. The question comes up because Peter DeFazio, our man in Washington, is chairman of the highways and transit subcommittee in the U.S. House. His committee will write the next highway bill, probably by the end of 2009. And when DeFazio led his colleagues on a fact-finding trip to Europe, he saw the viaduct at Millau. It’s the most spectacular bridge he has ever...

The hunter may soon become the hunted at Bonneville Dam. Sea lions have in recent years converted the damÂ’s forebay into their own salmon buffet line, but soon they may eat their last meal. Federal authorities last week granted a request by the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho to shoot California sea lions believed to be taking a chunk of salmon stocks that have already dwindled nearly to the point of extinction. The issue pits one creature against another, but it more fundamentally raises questions about humansÂ’ role in trying to strike a balance. Ultimately, itÂ’s likely someone will...

Federal fisheries managers are giving the go-ahead today for Oregon and Washington officials to trap and, if necessary, kill sea lions that wolf down thousands of salmon at Bonneville Dam every year. The Associated Press received a copy of the order late Monday. It limits lethal removal to sea lions deemed to have a significant effect on federally protected salmon and steelhead stocks. They must have been seen eating such fish between Jan. 1 and May 31 of any year. The order says sea lions captured in traps must be held for at least 48 hours to allow a search...