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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Will WA Follow OR's Lead on Salmon-Saving Approach?

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012   

SEATTLE - Federal agencies, conservation groups, fishermen and sportsmen, Native American tribes and dam managers have rarely all been in the same room - unless it's a courtroom - in the long battle over how to restore native salmon and steelhead populations in the Northwest.

However, one leader in the region is voicing his official agreement with what conservation and business groups have been saying for years: that a whole new approach is needed to save the endangered fish species. In an editorial, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber calls for all sides to sit down together, at the negotiating table instead of in the courtroom.

Kitzhaber says the latest federal review of salmon numbers shows some species are not recovering quickly enough. At the Northwest Energy Coalition, Sara Patton says his vote of confidence in a roundtable approach is an important step toward making it happen.

"We're excited: We think having Governor Kitzhaber take this stand is going to help a lot of folks in the region say, 'Yeah, this is worth it. It's time to do this, and we don't want to just keep on having the same old arguments in court.'"

Federal agencies have less than 18 months to improve or replace the last salmon recovery plan, called a Biological Opinion, that was already rejected in court. But whether a roundtable discussion of this magnitude can take place in the hectic weeks before a major election is anybody's guess. Bill Arthur, deputy national field director for the Sierra Club, thinks it is possible.

"The federal agencies are, in fact, still doing work, still convening meetings on any number of issues all around the country. Other Northwest leaders, whether it's the governor of Washington or whether it's other U.S. senators, could also lend their voice. So actually, no, I don't think it does have to wait 'til after the election."

Kitzhaber points out that all sides in the long salmon debate are working on projects for habitat improvement. But after about two decades of legal battles, and three federal salmon plans that have been ruled illegal, he says there could be more collaboration.

A call was made to Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire's office for her opinion, but it was not returned by deadline.

Read Governor Kitzhaber's editorial at www.oregonlive.com.




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