Federal fisheries and wildlife agencies stuck to their guns in a final demand to require Klamath River hydropower dam owner Pacificorp to install ladders for salmon and other fish if it wants a renewed license to operate.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service's stance on providing ways for fish to get above the dams to spawning grounds that have been cut off for decades changed little since its draft report last year. The agencies also issued a scalding indictment of Pacificorp's proposal to trap fish and truck them above and below the dams instead.

Advocates for removing the four dams in question believe the order may grease the skids toward a settlement with Pacificorp that would involve tearing the dams out. It would be the largest dam removal project in the country.

Installing the ladders and other infrastructure needed to allow salmon, steelhead and lamprey to move freely up and downstream may cost $300 million. Those costs could be passed onto Pacificorp's ratepayers, although the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of Interior, conservation groups and American Indian tribes hold that taking out the dams and replacing the 151 megawatts by building modern power plants would be a much better deal.

”My interpretation is this should convince Pacificorp that they have lost this battle, and they need to think about their ratepayers and what's best for them,” said Steve Rothert with the group American Rivers, a party to ongoing settlement talks.

Salmon stocks in the Klamath have suffered in recent years and led to severe cutbacks in commercial fishing. Water quality problems have become worse, and diseases among fish are widespread. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now considering issuing another 30- to 50-year license for the operation.

The report issued Tuesday says that building fish ladders will better protect several species of fish than Pacificorp's proposal, which was modified in December. That included some fishways to be built on some dams, while trapping adult fish to release them both above and between the dams to take advantage of habitat that's been cut off.

”In short, we found that Pacificorp's alternative was substantially less protective of public trust resources,” said Steve Edmondson with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Among the concerns is that Pacificorp's proposal only deals with fall run chinook salmon, not the other species. Edmondson said that the company's plan and didn't offer the certainty the agencies wanted.

The problems the agencies outlined included the likelihood of harming fish by handling them, making existing disease problems worse, and failing to protect red band trout that live between the dams.

Pacificorp spokesman Dave Kvamme said that the company believes ladders won't work on dams like lowermost Iron Gate Dam, which he said the agencies ignored. But he wouldn't say that Pacificorp intends to challenge the demands in court, but would rather wait until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission comes out with an environmental impact statement on the project.

Kvamme said the prescriptions imposed by the agencies has not dampened enthusiasm for a settlement among the stakeholders in the Klamath basin.

”Settlement is still a viable option as far as we're concerned,” Kvamme said.

John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.