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Methow Valley News March 23, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage "Surf board" wipes out Methow projects Local officials and legislators "mystified," and weigh options by Lee Hicks The fish watch: more puzzling all the time. As Methow basin irrigators looked for some leadership from state agencies and the governor’s office, the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board appears to have pulled the rug from under local efforts to work toward aiding endangered fish. In what some called a "mystifying" decision at a Wenatchee meeting Friday (March 17) the so-called "surf board" defied local recommendations for fish projects. The fish funding group overturned county recommendations on two key projects—for Wolf Creek Reclamation District and Skyline Ditch, projects ranked high in county recommendations. Even more puzzling, those close to the process say, was the board’s approval of more funds for Skagit River steelhead projects than for the entire upper Columbia River watershed. The Skagit has no fish species listed as endangered, while the Methow basin alone has steelhead trout and spring Chinook salmon listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, and bull trout as threatened. The SRFB decision mobilized county officials and area legislators, and angered Methow basin watershed planning unit members. Rep. Linda Evans Parlette, R-12th, was in Olympia as legislators worked to finish a state budget in special session. Parlette called state fisheries director Jeff Koenings, who was attending the salmon board meeting, for information on the decision, she said in weekend conversation. Koenings told her the board appeared to change directions during the two-day meeting, she added. Some county officials said it seemed board chairman William Ruckelshaus did not favor the decision. Ruckelshaus is a prominent international businessman and was the first head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Parlette said later Monday she had discussed the board action with Ruckelshaus and would continue to work on a resolution that could provide funding. If funds for Methow projects are not available from the surf board, other money from state or private sources will be needed to match a $1.148 million National Fish and Wildlife Fund grant that has already been announced. Ruckelshaus stepped in two weeks ago to block a legislative effort to directly appropriate funds to the Methow from the salmon fund. However, his opposition was said to be intended more to preserve the independent mission of the board. In an interview with the Wenatchee World published March 17 before that day’s surf board decisions, Ruckelshaus repeated an earlier concern that no single entity or plan is in place to coordinate Northwest salmon recovery efforts. "There are government agencies coming at this problem from a hundred different angles," Ruckelshaus was quoted. "There’s very little coordination. They need a plan." County water resources director Dennis Beich said he was "mystified as to why they would rearrange...drop projects...that the citizens committee submitted and that the surf board’s staff had recommended. "And also why they wouldn’t fund two projects (Patterson Lake dam work and Skyline Ditch piping) that had to been done if they want to have water for this season." Beich said officials of Chelan and Douglas counties were also concerned that, "the Skagit watershed got more money (this) grant cycle than all of the Upper Columbia ESU (evolutionary significant unit, a biological term)." Beich said Monday the county was exploring the possibilities for appealing the funding decisions. The timing of the surf board action comes as the Methow basin watershed unit plans to present a fish and water proposal for discussion with National Marine Fisheries Service officials March 28 at Sun Mountain Lodge. NMFS officials are scheduled to be at Sun Mountain Lodge March 27-28 to continue talks aimed at building a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the Wolf Creek Reclamation District. The Wolf Creek diversion fills Patterson Lake, the primary domestic water supply for Sun Mountain Lodge. The projects rebuffed by the surf board were $100,000 for work on the Patterson Lake dam to allow more water storage and piping and $346,000 for Skyline "channel work" or piping to prevent transmission loss during irrigation season. The action improved the outlook for $210,000 for a Salmon Creek project in the Okanogan watershed that would involve conservation and trust water actions to aid instream flows. The county and Colvilles had together proposed 13 projects totaling about $1.66 million. Altogether the surf board approved six for $568,150 in this funding cycle. In addition to Wolf Creek, Skyline has been discussing development of an HCP that would allow it to operate this year and also plan future improvements. The ditches are subject to "Section 7" provisions of the ESA which require consultation among federal agencies regarding listed species. There was concern the lack of salmon board funding might jeopardize the HCP development. Parlette said Monday, "My goal is to get money into the budget with the (state) agencies’ blessings ( and Ruckelshaus). " Parlette said she told state Department of Ecology director Tom Fitzsimmons,"...it was time to regroup—he agrees." Opinion | Sports |
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