Fish and Wildlife Program hearing set for tonight

Today, Thursday Aug. 22, from 5-6:30 p.m., the Northwest Power and Conservation Council will hold a public hearing in Bonners Ferry on a revision of its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The hearing will be at the Best Western Plus Kootenai River Inn, 7169 Plaza Street.

The program directs more than $250 million a year to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin that have been affected by the construction and operation of hydropower dams.

In Northern Idaho and Northwestern Montana, that includes projects in the Flathead and Kootenai river systems, Lake Pend Oreille, and Flathead Lake. It also includes projects related to Kootenai River sturgeon and burbot artificial production and restoration, and projects at Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa. In Fiscal Year 2018, funding amounted to $16.7 million for Montana and $64.5 million for Idaho. Those totals are for Montana west of continental divide and all of Idaho. The federal Bonneville Power Administration pays for projects that implement the Council’s fish and wildlife program.

In northern Idaho and western Montana, projects under the fish and wildlife program are implemented primarily by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Every five years the Council revises the program in a public process. In July, the Council released for public comment a draft 2019 addendum to the 2014 Program. The draft is posted on the Council’s website, www.nwcouncil.org. Comments will be accepted through Oct. 18. Public hearings on the draft addendum are being held in the four Northwest states, the states that are represented on the Council. Montana’s Council members are Jennifer Anders, the 2019 Council chair, and Bo Downen. The Council office is in Helena. Idaho’s members are Jeffery Allen and Jim Yost. The Council office is in Boise.

Some of the key elements of the addendum include:

- Program performance and adaptive management: This part of the addendum describes what the Council and others will do over the next few years to evaluate the program’s performance and apply that evaluation to improve program implementation.

- Program goals, objectives, and performance indicators: These have been refined in the draft addendum, including goals for salmon and steelhead, resident fish, wildlife, and ecosystem function.

- Climate change: The addendum calls on the Council and others to consider the implications of climate change in all aspects of the program – planning, project development, and project and program implementation and assessments.

- Mitigating for salmon and steelhead impacts of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams: The area above these two dams in Washington, and into British Columbia, has suffered greater losses of salmon, steelhead and their habitat than most other areas of the Columbia River Basin. The addendum recommends that Bonneville begin a comprehensive effort over the next five years to intensify, expand, and then sustain the mitigation effort.

- Predator management: The addendum recognizes the problem of invasive species, such as zebra and quagga mussels, and supports continuing efforts by the state of Montana, tribes, and federal agencies to halt their spread.