Coast coho not
included in new listing
By Joel Gallob. Of the Newport News-Times.
The identification of a reduced number of miles of
critical habitat for Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead fish runs
announced Friday by the National Marine Fisheries Service does not address
habitat for the Oregon coast coho salmon.
"Critical habitat for the Oregon Coast Natural coho were not given
because the OCN coho are not listed currently," explained NMFS spokesman
Brian Gorman.
"A listing decision for the OCN has been extended for another six months,
and we are talking with the state, which is doing a conservation plan for
them," said Gorman.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration) Fisheries has the authority, under the Endangered Species Act,
to delay a listing decision, if there is "scientific uncertainty" he
said. "But then after that, we have to make a call."
For the Oregon coast wild coho and their critical habitat, a different process
is currently underway. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is working
on a conservation plan for the coho, and will complete that and give it to
NOAA Fisheries in time for the federal agency to include the conservation plan
in its review of the status of the Oregon coast coho. "They've been
working on that for some time," he said.
Gorman recalled the history of the listing and un-listing of the Oregon coast
coho. "You may recall, we decided not to list them five or six years ago,
and we were sued on that decision. The court said that the state's salmon plan
was too much based on voluntary measures, and so we listed the coho. Then we
were sued for listing them; that was the Alsea River hatchery case, and we
lost that one. No population of salmon has been listed and unlisted as often
as the Oregon Coast Natural coho has been. So their status is, we have
extended" the deadline for a listing decision by NMFS "to the end of
the year."
The new identification of critical habitat for Northwest and California salmon
and steelhead by the Bush administration's National Marine Fisheries Service
reduced the number of stream miles identified as such habitat. According to a
press release from Gorman, "In making the designation, NOAA fisheries
used the latest scientific understanding of salmon habitat and identified more
than 31,000 miles of stream and shoreline inhabited by salmon. Of the habitat
identified, NOOA designated 89 percent as critical. Designation obligates
other federal agencies to give special consideration to their activities when
they take place in the designated areas."
The areas excluded from such designation were chiefly in Washington and
Yamhill counties. Near the coast, some stream areas south of Astoria were
excluded. Other excluded areas were in Wasco County and northern Jefferson
County, eastern Umatilla County and central Lane County.
There are various reasons why an area might not be listed as critical habitat,
Gorman said. "There are different categories of exemption, for military,
tribal, and Habitat Conservation Plan private lands. These amount to the
lion's share the exempted stream miles."
An Endangered Species Act listing will protect the species involved not only
on federal property, but on all lands (federal, state, tribal, or privately
owned) if there is a substantial connection between that land and the federal
government. That link, or "nexus," can be the need for a federal
permit or a federal grant or loan. A landowner may draft a Habitat
Conservation Plan and if it is approved by the listing agency, accept
limitations on what he may do with the land in return for a certainty there
will be no further restrictions added later on.
The announcement on Friday of the critical habitat identification sparked
responses from fishermen's and environmental organizations that were unhappy
with the reduction in the number of miles of streams categorized as critical
habitat. Mark Glyde, a spokesman for a half-dozen organizations that put out a
press release opposing the NOAA Fisheries critical habitat designation,
explained the problem as his members (including the NW Guides and Anglers
Association, Trout Unlimited, and the National Wildlife Federation) saw it.
The administration, Glyde stated, "is abandoning protection for most
currently unoccupied areas that are considered part of the historic range of
salmon and steelhead in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. This
decision will fundamentally alter the course of salmon recovery under the
federal Endangered Species Act, which recognizes that protecting habitat as a
foundation of species recovery," Glyde stated.
"For fishermen, protecting rivers and streams salmon need to live as a
day in and day out priority," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "Without healthy
habitat there can be no salmon. This decision puts the livelihoods of
thousands of fishing families at risk."
The protections of the Endangered Species Act apply to the protected animals
and plants themselves and to their habitat; killing, harming or harassing a
protected plant or animal is defined in that act as a "take" subject
to various penalties, as is damage to their native habitat. In addition, the
act requires identification of "critical habitat" for the protected
species.
"That designation is a red flag to other federal agencies that they must
be careful about what they are doing in critical habitat areas," said
Gorman. Whether an area is or is not identified as critical habitat "does
not release them from an obligation to not 'take' habitat" used by the
plant or animal, he said.
