452 



test Refunding BPA and Ihc Washington Public Puwcr Supply System comi^eted a refunding hnod sa)e 

 t>ond Sale Will May 27. Tlic sale will save tlic region about $S5 niilliun, bringing the total savings fn)m the 



Save $35 Million rcflnanclngprogramtoaboutSl.T billion Mncc it began In 1989. Some $79S million of 



WNP-I and -2 bonds were sold to reduce interest rates as high as 7 percent to an effective 

 rate of 5.83 percent. Tl)e bonds arc rated AA by all llircc bond rating services. 



Former Ranch In Alter two years of discussions, BPA signed an agreement June 29 to acquire the 

 Eastern Oregon Is 1 157-lKXtarc (2.860-acrc) Coiifortli ranch In cx'.wi n Oregon as a wetland wildlife icfuge. 

 Now A Wildlife The Northwest 1^3wcr Planning Council proposed BPA buy the acreage to rebuild wildlife 

 Wetland Refiipe populatloirs and habitat lost thn>ugh hydro development at McNary fJam. Tru.st for Public 

 ^ Lands, a non-prollt envlronincnial group, bought it for $800,000 in 1991 to hold while 



BPA negotiated its purcliase. (Sec January 1992 Jounud.) Tlie propetty borders McNary 

 reservoir on ihc Columbia KJvcr between tlie I'on of Umatilla and Hat Rock State Park. 



The Umatilla Confederated Tribes will serve as Interim managers of the rel\)gc until an 

 environmental review is completed. BPA will work with them to develop a wildlife 

 managcineni plan tlial will likely cliiiiinalc cattle gracing and expand tlie walands. Over half 

 the area is shrub steppe habitat, and tlie rest is wetlands. Natural potholes of hard ba.salt 

 rock filled with water when the rancher periodically Irrigated to maintain grass for his cattle 

 Vna resulting ponds range In size from about .20 hectare to about 2 hectares Oulf acre to 

 five acres). The project ■mW protect and eiilianCA: habitat for waterfowl sucli as widgeon, 

 mallards and Canada gccsc and siiorebirds such as avocets and spotted sandpipers. It will 

 also maintain a home for shrub steppe species such as western meadowlarks and California 

 quail, tree-dwelling downy woodpeckers and yellow warblers, as well as less common 

 species such as the burrowing owl and long-billed curlew. 



Some of Ute endangered Snake Kivcr sockeye salmon In ilic Sawtooth Valley captive 

 broodstock project in the Sawtooth Valley diould be reproducing this fall, llie fish wae 

 trapped as they left Rodfish Lake in 1991, when they were one to two years old. Some arc 

 Soon Be Spawned ^^ pfficny of wild sockeye. Others may he offspring of the resident stocks of sockeye in 

 in Idaho Rcdflsh I jike, kokanee or "residual"" soclceye. The offspring of all three stocks in the 



brotxistock are outwardly similar. Of tlie original 800, about 400 survive, most of which 

 will be spawned artificially. Tliclr young will be placed in nci pens In Kedtlsh I .akc or other 

 Stanley Basin lakes next spring and allowed to inigrate in I99S. Tliis will be llic first 

 opponunily to observe wiiether brcMxlstock sockeye reproduce successfully. Rcsearclicrs 

 hope to perfea a non-lethal genetic test to distinguish niigralory sockeye from lite 

 physically similar kokancc. a non-migrating species of sockeye. I fall goes well, the first 

 fisli born and raised in the program could return from the ocean in the fall of 1997 as 4- 

 ycar-old adults. The run migrates 1450 kilometers (900 miles) fn)m the ocean to Sawtooth 

 Valley. 



I'Wo other younger groups of sockeye will mature in 1995. These are the offspring of four 

 adults captured at RodOsli Lake In 1991. Recently the National Marine Pislicries Service 

 moved one group of 77 1 Osli from Seattle to larger tanks at the Big Beef Creek facility near 

 Scabcck, Wash. An outbreak of bacterial kidney disease, now under control, reduced ilicir 

 survival rate to 79 percent. Tlic second group of about 900, being reared by Idalw 

 Department of Pish and Game at Eagle. Idaho, has a survival rate above 90 percent. 



Endangered 

 take River 

 Ciockcyc Will 



Summer Chinook The Mid-Columbia's summer chliKX>k run may be tlie next salmon species to be listed 

 Run May Be under tlic Endangered Species Act. I^asi month 1 1 eiivhOMmental grou|\<; (iciiiioncd tlic 



Listed Under ES A National Marine Fisheries Service for protection of llic runs. DPA supports and v^ll 



actively participate in efforts to protect and renew the stocks. Mcanwliile, tlic U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife .<icrvice will decide soon whether to propose an ESA listing for the non-migrating 

 Columbia KJver snirgeon. On June 1 1 , BPA and the Corps of Engineers submlaed a signed 

 conservation agcccmcni to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect, researeli and 

 evaluate Kootenai River white sturgeon. 



