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Northwest Way of Life Preserved in Court Decision Overturning Salmon Plan

Case Updates:

May 27, 2005

In Pacific Northwest communities, the fishing and recreation industries have shaped a way of life and provided a constant source of local income for years. However, low water levels in the Snake River have disrupted this routine, forcing tribal, sport, and commercial fisheries to practically shut down their businesses as the area experiences one of the lowest returns of the spring Chinook salmon. In spite of evidence that hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake River are the leading killer of salmon and steelhead, the Bush administration steadfastly refuses to face reality and propose alternatives. In this new court ruling, a federal judge has thrown out yet another flawed administration management plan as illegal, and has sent federal agents back to the drawing board to devise a real solution that would help, not hurt, local communities and the salmon on which they depend.

Read about the details of this victory in our press release.

May 1, 2003

In May 2003, a federal court rejected as illegal and flawed an Administration proposal to protect wild salmon and steelhead from the harmful effects of dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers; the court ruled that the Administration’s plan failed to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. In particular, the court found that the plan ignored lethal river conditions and instead improperly relied on future actions that may never occur to compensate for the salmon deaths caused by the dams. The ruling opens the door to creating a plan that is based on sound science and which will actually save the wild salmon.

Details and Documents:

Northwest Way of Life, Jobs & People Win Today Judge Rules that Federal Government's Salmon Plan is Illegal…Again
May 26, 2005 Press Release, Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, Sierra Club et al

Opinion and Order of the U.S. District Court
May 26, 2005, U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Government shirked its duty to wild fish, a judge rules
May 27, 2005, New York Times