(This was the 2014 amendment process, see the current 2018 Amendment process here.)

The Council invites your review and comment on draft amendments to the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.

The Council began the amendment process in March 2013 by soliciting recommendations for program amendments from the region’s state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes, and others, as required by the Northwest Power Act. The Council prepared the draft program after reviewing the recommendations, supporting information submitted with the recommendations, and comments received on the recommendations.

The Council now invites comments on the draft program which can include further comments on the recommendations and how the draft program amendments relate to the recommendations.

To comment on the draft program through July 9 25, 2014 you may:

  • Submit a comment online
  • Email PublicComments@nwcouncil.org
  • Attend any public hearing scheduled at various locations throughout the Columbia River Basin (schedule will be posted when available)

The Council will also be soliciting the views of the state fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, Bonneville customers and others through directed consultations, as required by the Northwest Power Act.

The Council expects to make a final decision on the revised fish and wildlife program in early fall 2014. The Council will make its final program amendment decisions on the basis of the recommendations, supporting documents, and the comments on both the recommendations and on the draft program.

We invite comment on any part of the draft fish and wildlife program. However, the Council calls particular attention to a few specific issues presented in the draft program.

  1. Many recommendations urged the Council to do more work to identify program objectives, particularly quantitative objectives that can serve to prioritize the work done under the Council’s program. Recommendations also called on the council to more clearly link these objectives to program strategies and measures and clarify how progress is reported. To address these recommendations the Council identified 20 qualitative goal statements and quantitative objectives (see page 186) that connect to program strategies and reporting indicators. We are asking the region for advice on how we should sequence or prioritize the development of quantitative objectives for the 20 goals. We are also interested in knowing whether the region believes that all 20 goals are necessary and should be tracked with quantitative objectives; perhaps some do not need quantitative objectives or some can be eliminated.
  2. The Council received recommendations for many new measures for inclusion into the 2014 program. The Council identified draft priorities (see page 114) for the purpose of providing guidance to Bonneville, the other federal agencies, and the region about which new measures are of particular importance for implementation in the next five years. We are seeking comments from the region about the draft priorities. Did we identify the right priorities and are they ranked in the right order?
  3. The Council’s draft program recognizes subbasin plan updates as a priority for those most out of date; however, we are asking for your suggestions about how that could be done efficiently while honoring the initial efforts of the many groups that worked together to produce each subbasin plan.

We look forward to hearing from you by July 9 25, 2014. Thank you for your interest in the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.

Sincerely,

Bill Bradbury, Chair