NEWS: US NORTHWEST

The Bush administration Monday issued its final court-ordered plans for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams and irrigation projects safe for endangered salmon. The proposed changes in operations would cost hundreds of millions of dollars but no dam removals. Go to article.

Our mountains are our reservoirs. In Washington, as elsewhere in the American West, it’s axiomatic. A deep mountain snowpack equals plentiful downstream supplies of water for fish, irrigated crops, municipal drinking water and hydroelectric generators. But what if the mountains don’t deliver on schedule? What if persistent cool weather holds snow on Cascade Mountain peaks weeks longer than normal? And what if spring rainfall falls short? Go to article.

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee has agreed to add $400 million for county payments to the must-pass Iraq war funding bill, giving rural communities in Oregon and beyond unexpected hope that federal aid could be delivered this year. Go to article.

Studies started in 2000 appear to show a decline in the population of federally protect marbled murrelets on the West Coast -- but not at the high end of earlier estimates, said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife biologist. Go to article.

Former U.S. Rep. Ron Marlenee and state Rep. John Sinrud have formed an election-year issue advocacy group to promote the use of Montana's natural resources, protect property rights and stop “radical environmentalists.” The two Bozeman Republicans have launched Western Tradition Partnership and are soliciting money and memberships from industry and business executives. Go to article.

With growing fears over biofuels stealing from dinner plates to fill gas tanks, people are starting to wonder: How green are biofuels? Go to article.

Six sea lions trapped at Bonneville Dam last month headed to SeaWorld parks this weekend, officials said. Three of the sea lions arrived late Friday at SeaWorld Orlando, said Diane Centeno, a SeaWorld spokeswoman. The sea lions will be quarantined for 30 days, then will join other marine mammals, she said. Go to article.

A federal judge has approved a $7.25 million fine against an Egyptian shipping company that dumped oil sludge at sea, the largest penalty for dumping ever assessed in the Pacific Northwest. Go to article.

The Fish and Wildlife Service should re-list the wolves until it receives more reasonable management plans from the states involved, and should demand that the population fall no lower than 1,000. The wolves weren't reintroduced to provide target practice for hunters. Go to article.

When a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1908 gave rise to the ''Winter's Doctrine'' of reserved tribal water rights, only the U.S. government stood between tribes and a settler-state thirst for water that threatened many reservations with drought. A century later, for a host of highly practical, place-based reasons, tribes and states have gotten together to negotiate water rights settlements throughout the Western states. According to a handful of advocates before a House of Representatives subcommittee on water and power April 16, now only the various presidential administrations and their narrow view of settlement costs stand in the way of establishing water rights on all sides. Go to article.

After ravaging the Sawtooths, the insects threaten the Boise forest. Little can be done to stop them. Go to article.

the jumbo squid now lurking off the Northwest coast could threaten salmon runs and signal yet another change in the oceans brought on by global warming. Click here to find out more! The squid, which can reach seven feet long and weigh up to 110 pounds, are aggressive, thought to hunt in packs and can move at speeds of up to 15 mph. In Mexico, they're known as diablos rojos, or red devils. They reportedly will attack divers when they feel threatened. Go to article.