Draft salmon plan sent to state, federal agencies with concerns

By Joyce Campbell
Methow Valley News

1/9/06

Methow Valley, WA - The Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board sent the draft 2005 Salmon Recovery Plan to Gov. Christine Gregoire, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries last week

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A cover letter went with the plan and outlined some of the unresolved issues and concerns with the plan. The board, according to the letter, has concerns with decisions made by the federal agencies about the development of the plan.

The letter stated, "the members of the UCSRB are committed to implementing the plan within our respective jurisdictions, but we can not be successful without the full support of our federal and state partners. All sectors, hydro, harvest, hatcheries and habitat, need to be addressed before recovery can be met."

Policy and technical issues needing to be resolved include: missing "modules" that address out-of-basin effects, how the adequacy or inadequacy of the plan will be determined, review opportunities, inconsistency related to including hatchery fish, and the need for accessible data and consistent reporting region-wide.

The Okanogan County Planning Department website thanks everyone who invested time and effort reading and commenting on the plan. "The Draft Salmon Recovery Plan is a stronger and better document because of your comments," it said.

The 288-page document is available for viewing online at www.okanogancounty.org/water.
For more information about the plan or review process, call Okanogan planner Sandy Cox at (509) 422-7113.