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NMFS, River Advocates to Meet on Lawsuit
A U.S. District Court
judge postponed briefings this month in a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS
) filed by conservation groups, consumer advocates, and sport and commercial fishing organizations in May. The court called the delay following a request from NMFS attorneys who asked for mediation to settle the case.
The lawsuit challenges the NMFS
2000 Biological Opinion
(often called the Federal Salmon Recovery Plan
or the Bi-Op
) on operations and fish management for the Columbia
and Snake
rivers. The plaintiffs argue the Bi-Op violates the Endangered Species Act
by relying on weak science and on voluntary actions from state governments and private land owners. Plaintiffs also claim the plan allows the Bonneville Power Administration
(BPA
) too much discretionary power to suspend fish protection measures, such as river flow and spill.
According to Todd True
, an EarthJustice
attorney representing the plaintiffs, mediation talks begin the week of February 11. While he declined to discuss specifics, True said he and his clients would sit down with defendants to pursue mediation. “We certainly are going to engage in that effort fully to see what it can produce.”
The state of Idaho
recently moved from amicus status in the case and joined defendants as an intervenor, a move that contradicts the state’s own fish biologists at the Department of Fish and Game
, according to Bert Bowler
of
Idaho Rivers United
, a plaintiff in the case.
— Corinne Hollister