From wafcfbp@teleport.com Wed Jul 1 12:00:50 1998 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id MAA19508 for ; Wed, 1 Jul 1998 12:00:49 -0700 Received: from smtp5.teleport.com (mail1.teleport.com [192.108.254.26]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW98.06) with ESMTP id MAA12392; Wed, 1 Jul 1998 12:00:48 -0700 Received: from teleport.com (pdx05-pm2-26.teleport.com [204.202.160.154]) by smtp5.teleport.com (8.8.7/8.7.3) with ESMTP id LAA26898; Wed, 1 Jul 1998 11:58:29 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <359A865F.89EFA2BE@teleport.com> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 11:56:34 -0700 From: Daniel Hall Reply-To: wafcfbp@teleport.com X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: wafcfbp@teleport.com Subject: Action Alert: Anti-Salmon Rider on Senate Interior Appropriations Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ============================================================ ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ============================================================ 7/1/98 TO: Western ESA Activists, Salmon Activists FROM: Daniel Hall, American Lands Alliance (note WAFC's new name!) SUBJECT: Concrete Shoes for Columbia-Snake Salmon -- Anti-Salmon Rider on Senate Interior Appropriations Bill One of the anti-environmental riders on the Senate Interior Appropriations bill would give Columbia-Snake River salmon "concrete shoes. This mafia-style hit would prevent any effort to “remove, breach, or diminish” Congressionally-authorized uses of Columbia River basin dams. The rider would prevent changes in flow rates or dam operations even if those changes were necessary to protect endangered salmon, other imperiled aquatic species, and overall water quality. Specifically, the rider would prevent federal or state agencies from changing the current operations of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) licensed dams on the Columbia, Snake, and their tributaries to benefit fish and wildlife. The rider would make power generation, irrigation, and barge navigation the dominant use of all rivers in the Columbia River basin; fish and wildlife protection and water quality would be sacrificed. The rider attempts to circumvent key federal laws, including: (1) the Federal Power Act, which requires that fish and wildlife values be given “equal consideration” with power values; (2) the Endangered Species Act, which mandates that agencies protect and recover species on the brink of extinction; (3) the Clean Water Act, which requires federal hydropower dams to comply with state water quality standards for temperature and other pollution parameters; and (4) the Northwest Power Planning Act, which balances the needs of power generation with the needs of salmon and other aquatic species. Word has it that the Interior Appropriations bill -- with its hidden riders -- could go to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as July 8! The bill has already passed out of committee. ==> PLEASE CALL OR WRITE YOUR SENATORS NOW! Calls and letter are needed now to express our outrage and to demand that this rider -- along with other anti-environmental riders -- be removed from the Interior Appropriations bill. Our Senators must oppose this back-door effort to exempt river management from salmon protections, the Endangered Species Act, and other key public policies. If salmon recovery doesn't happen here, where will it happen? Sen. Patty Murray: 202-224-2621 fax: 202-224-0238 Seattle: 206-553-5545 fax: 206-553-0891 Sen. Slade Gorton: 202-224-3441 fax: 202-224-9393 Seattle: 206-451-0103 fax: 206-451-0234 Sen. Ron Wyden: 202-224-5244 fax: 202-228-2717 Portland: 503-326-7525 fax: 502-326-758 Eugene: 541-431-0299 fax: 541-431-0610 Sen. Gordon Smith: 202-224-3753 fax: 202-228-3997 Portland: 503-326-3386 fax: 503-326-2900 Sen. Dianne Feinstein: 202-224-9656 fax: 202-228-4741 San Francisco: 415-536-6868 fax: 415-536-6841 Sen. Barbara Boxer: 202-224-3553 fax: 202-228-1338 San Francisco: 415-403-0100 fax: 415-956-6701 (Don't forget to thank Sen. Boxer for her dedication to protecting endangered species and ecosystems) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The rider is in section 343 of the appropriations bill, as marked by the Appropriations Subcommittee on June 23rd. We will also be providing information soon on the other anti-endangered species riders in the Senate Interior Appropriations bill. Thanks to Heather Weiner of EarthJustice for providing information on the rider. For more information, contact Daniel Hall at the address below. -- ______________________________________________________________________ Daniel A. Hall Director, Forest Biodiversity Program American Lands Alliance wafcfbp@teleport.com ph: 503-978-0511 fx: 503-978-1757 5825 N Greeley, Portland, OR 97217 ______________________________________________________________________ .