PR 77 05 FEDERAL CAUCUS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY, Sept. 30, 2005 Contact: See Below     Court orders BiOp rewrite; federal executives commit to work with region PORTLAND, Ore. - Joint release from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration. In the wake of a federal court announcement today that the court will require a rewrite of a biological opinion (BiOp) on operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System, the heads of federal agencies responsible for the dams reiterated their commitment to develop a long-term program for strengthening endangered stocks of salmon. The agencies are committed to working with tribes, states and other stakeholders on actions needed to support recovery of stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act. Federal officials also said they are exploring legal options with regard to the court's ruling. A final order is expected next week. The statements by the U.S. District Court in Portland pertain to the biological opinion released in late 2004 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) relating to operation of the federal dams. The BiOp reviewed a set of actions proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration to aid Columbia Basin salmon. Among other things, these actions include installing state-of-the-art "fish slides" for young salmon traveling through dams, restoring habitat and controlling fish-eating predators. The court indicated that the federal entities have one year to produce a new biological opinion with the possibility of an extension. "We will carry out this new effort as diligently and aggressively as we can," said Bob Lohn, Northwest Regional Director of NOAA Fisheries. "We're concerned with the constraints of time and resources that this new schedule imposes on us, but during the next year we'll continue working with the region to develop a well-supported solution that assures both continued progress toward recovery of listed stocks and improvements where possible to other nonlisted stocks that currently support most of the harvest in the Columbia River." The court indicated that it would leave the 2004 biological opinion in place while the new opinion is being written. This will provide both continuity and guidance for the region during the next 12 months. "While we are addressing the concerns of the court, it is important to remember that our efforts to protect salmon are yielding measurable improvements, and we are hard at work on recovery plans," said Lohn. "Together, Northwest stakeholders have helped to restore over 3,000 miles of salmon habitat and are producing locally driven recovery plans for the entire Northwest." The federal agencies are spending approximately $6 billion over 10 years on salmon efforts in the Columbia/Snake river basin -- the most significant program for Columbia and Snake river salmon ever. For more information, go to: www.salmonrecovery.gov. For further information, contact: Brian Gorman, NOAA Fisheries, 206-526-6613 Ed Mosey, Bonneville Power Administration, 503-230-5359 Diana Cross, Bureau of Reclamation, 208-378-5020 Ken Holder, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 503-808-3710 Submitted for distribution on 09-30-2005 at 2:46 PM

Bonneville Power Administration, 905 N.E. 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232 Mailing Address: Media Relations - DM7, P.O. Box 3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621 Phone: (503)230-5131 FAX: (503) 230-5884 Web Site: http://www.bpa.gov