Introduction 



A. The Northwest 

 Power Planning 

 Council 



The Noilliwcst Power Planning 

 Council, an interstate compact 

 agency of Idaiio, Montana, Oregon 

 and Washington, was cstabHshed 

 under the authority of the Pacific 

 Northwest Electric Power Planning 

 and Conservation Act of 1980. The 

 Act directs the Council to develop 

 a program to "protect, mitigate and 

 enhance lish and wildlife, including 

 related spawning grounds and habitat, 

 on the Columbia River and its tribu- 

 taries ... affected by tiie development, 

 operation and management of [hydro- 

 electric projects] while assuring the 

 Pacific Northwest an adequate, effi- 

 cient, economical and reliable power 

 supply." The Act also directs the 

 Council to ensLire widespread public 

 involvement in the formulation of 

 regional power policies. 



This document is the Council's 

 Columbia River Basin Fish and 

 Wildlife Program. As a planning, 

 policy-making and review ing body, 

 the Council develops and then moni- 

 tors implementation of the program, 

 which is implemented by the Bonn- 

 eville Power Administration, the 

 U.S. Amiy Coips of Engineers, the 

 Bureau of Reclamation and the Fed- 

 eral Energy Regulatory Commission 

 and its licensees. 



The Northwest Power Act directs 

 the Council to develop its program 

 and make periodic major revisions 

 by first requcstmg reconuuendations 

 from the region's federal and state 

 fish and wildlife agencies, appro- 

 priate Indian tribes (those within 

 the basin) and other interested par- 

 ties. When the Council issues a 

 draft amended program, an extensive 

 public comment period is initiated 

 that includes public hearings in each 

 of the four slates and consultations 

 with interested parties. After closing 

 the coiument period, and following 



"In the future, the Council 



will amend into the 

 program locally deveiupc..^ 

 plans for the more than 50 

 tributary subbasins of the 

 Columbia River and a plan 

 for the mainstem." 



a review and deliberation period, the 

 Council adopts the revised program. 

 This must occur within a year of the 

 deadline for receiving recommenda- 

 tions for amendments. 



B. A NEW PROGRAM 

 STRUCTURE 



This is the fifth revision of the 

 Columbia River Basin Fish and 

 Wildlife Program since the Council 

 adopted its first program in Novem- 

 ber 1982. This time, as in the series 

 of program amendments between 

 1991 and 1995, the program is being 

 revised in phases. Unlike past ver- 

 sions of the program, which were 

 criticized by scientists for consisting 

 primarily of a number of measures 

 that called for specific actions with- 

 out a clear, programwide foundation 

 of scientific principles, this version 

 of the program expresses goals and 

 objectives for the entire basin based 

 on a scientific foundation of ecolog- 

 ical principles. In the future, the 

 Council will amend into the program 

 locally developed plans for the more 

 than ."^O tributai7 subbasins of the 

 Columbia River and a plan for the 

 mainstem. These plans will be con- 

 sistent with the goals and objectives 

 for the basin and also with goals and 

 objectives that will be developed for 

 the 1 1 ecological provinces of the 



basin. The provinces are groups of 

 adjacent subbasins with similar eco- 

 logical features. 



With the subbasin plans in place, 

 the program will be organized in 

 three levels: I ) a basinwide level that 

 articulates objectives, principles and 

 coordination elements that apply gen- 

 erally to all fish and wildlife projects, 

 or to a class of projects, that are 

 implemented throughout the basin; 

 2) an ecological province level that 

 addresses the 1 1 unique ecological 

 areas of the Columbia River Basin, 

 each representing a particular type 

 of terrain and corresponding biologi- 

 cal community; and 3) a level that 

 addresses the more than 50 subba- 

 sins, each containing a specific water- 

 way and the surrounding uplands. 



The Council believes this unique 

 program structure, goal-oriented and 

 science-based, will result in a more 

 carefully focused, scientifically credi- 

 ble and publicly accountable program 

 that will direct the region's substan- 

 tial fish and wildlife investment to the 

 places and species where it will do 

 i the most good. 



C. The FRAMEWORK 

 CONCEPT 



The program's goals, objectives, 

 scientific foundation and actions 

 are structured in a "framework," 

 an organizational concept for fish 

 and wildlife mitigation and recovei^ 

 efforts that the Council introduced 

 in the 1994-1995 version of the 

 program. The 2000 program, orga- 

 nized with the framework concept, is 

 intended to bring together, as closely 

 as possible. Endangered Species Act 

 requirements, the broader require- 

 ments of the Northwest Power Act 

 and the policies of the states and 

 Indian tribes of the Columbia River 

 Basin into a comprehensive program 

 that has a solid scientific foundation. 

 The program also states explicitly 

 what the Council is trying to accom- 

 plish, links the program to a specific 

 set of objectives, describes the strate- 

 gies to be employed and establishes 

 a scientific basis for the program. 



2000 Columbia river Basin Fish and Wn 



