26 June
2003
Media Contact:
Charles Hudson, CRITFC,
(503) 731-1257
Carl Merkle, Umatilla Tribe (541) 276-3449
Dave Cummings, Nez Perce Tribe (208) 843.7355
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Biological Opinion still
illegal despite judge's ruling, treaty tribes say
Portland, Oregon
- The National Marine
Fisheries Service's 2000 Biological Opinion is still illegal despite
a federal judge's decision to leave the salmon plan in place while
it's being rewritten, Columbia Basin treaty tribes say.
U.S. District Court Judge James A. Redden on Wednesday rejected a
motion by the National Wildlife Federation to vacate and set aside
the Biological Opinion, which he invalidated in a ruling last month.
But he made it clear that federal agencies must be watched closely
while a new salmon plan is developed.
"We're pleased Judge Redden wants to make clear his expectations
of NMFS on its interactions with the tribes, which we've always said
must improve," said Allen Slickpoo Jr., chairman of the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) and a member of the Nez
Perce Tribe. "He also reminds the agency that a quarterly reporting
process will be in place."
N. Kathryn "Kat" Brigham, a member of the Umatilla Tribe's
fish and wildlife committee, said the judge's decision doesn't endorse,
excuse or validate the federal salmon plan, the same plan found to
be illegal in a 1995 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Marsh.
"NMFS still improperly relies on future federal, state and private
mitigation actions that aren't certain to occur," she said. "The
old plan also still violates the Endangered Species Act."
Olney Patt Jr., CRITFC executive director, said federal officials
must not be allowed to use Redden's ruling as an excuse to make "weak,
piecemeal" changes to the Biological Opinion.
"This is not a product that needs tweaking. It needs a major
overhaul," Patt said. "It would behoove the Bush Administration
to start taking the judge's May 7 ruling seriously and not treat decisions
like this as some perceived victory. The tribes aren't buying it."
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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