06/10/05 Summer spills before court

Washington Ag June 10, 2005 U.S. District Court Judge James Redden in Portland, Oregon is scheduled to begin hearing arguments today regarding an injunction sought by the National Wildlife Federation that would force the federal government to increase dam spills this summer to augment salmon survival in the Columbia-Snake River System. At a congressional field hearing on the river system earlier this week in Clarkston, Washington State Farm Bureau president Steve Appel was critical of putting a judge in the position of micro-managing the entire Snake/Columbia River hydroelectric system. Appel: "It will affect more than 219-thousand square miles in seven western states. At this point it looks like it will be decided by the judicial system that places the ESA ahead of people and rights of fish ahead of the rights of farmers and ranchers, what ever the cost. That is just wrong." Appel said spilling more water will reduce water for irrigation, lower river levels for barging and further drive up electrical costs for the Northwest. The Farm Bureau leader said that after 32 years of little or no success, after 32 years of trampling on individual rights, it's time to fix what's wrong with the Endangered Species Act. Since Judge Redden ruled against the federal government's latest plan for protecting endangered fish, advocates for fish have renewed their call for breaching the four Lower Snake River dams. I'm Bob Hoff.