NEWSHOMEOPINIONLOCAL INTERESTRECENT ISSUESLETTERSCLASSIFIEDSLINKS |
Methow Valley News April 13, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage Publishers Comment ~ by Lee Hicks Can this "PUP" hunt? In a special section this week the News is publishing the text of the "Methow basin planning unit proposal," often called the PUP. Most readers will remember PUP’s predecessor,—MOA, for memorandum of agreement—that was soundly criticized last November. Both documents address the issues of how to protect and begin recovery of endangered and threatened salmon species—and water for fish is a central feature. Unlike the MOA, however, the PUP would build a long-term recovery plan by first developing more data on water use and hydrology to better understand the particular relationship in this basin of water and the needs of fish. The PUP is the local watershed group’s "baseline" to begin negotiations April 18 with National Marine Fisheries Service, US Fish and Wildlife and state agencies. Much citizen volunteer work and public expense for federal, state and local participation has gone into this process for the past year. Rather than a top-down approach from the federal to local level, as in the MOA, the PUP is more a bottom-up document. But it also incorporates components advocated by state and federal participants. It’s a good place to re-start the process. I was thinking that as well A column by Seattle P-I editorial writer, and part-time Methow resident, Solveig Torvik raises an important point in the discussion of endangered salmon and the possibility of dam breaching. Is the public opinion expressed in the recent "All-H" hearings on hydro, harvest, hatchery and habitat strategies really germane if "best available science" is required by the Endangered Species Act, Torvik asks? A very good question. Opinion | Sports |
Local Interest |