VANCOUVER, Wash. - Washington state is proposing to increase the volume of water spilled over Columbia and Snake River dams to aid salmon recovery, a plan designed to feed the region's dwindling orca population.

The state Department of Ecology is to hold a public meeting on the proposal today in Vancouver. The agency is responsible for total dissolved gas levels in the rivers, and it's a delicate balance; more spill helps migrating fish navigate the dams, but too much increases gas levels and could hurt some fish.

Robb Krehbiel, a Northwest representative for the group Defenders of Wildlife, said the plan is a recommendation of the state's Southern Resident Orca Task Force.

"Given the task force coming together, the awful images that we saw this summer of orcas dying in the Sound right before our eyes, it really motivated action," he said, "and this is one of the most effective things that the state can do in the near term to provide immediate relief to Southern Resident orcas."

Krehbiel said increasing spill is the safest way to get juvenile salmon to the ocean, and the state estimates the plan would boost salmon numbers by about 145,000. It's a three-year plan for eight dams on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers.

Sristi Kamal, also a Northwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife, is to attend today's meeting in Vancouver. To accommodate the plan, the state would increase its dissolved gas standards to 120 percent before this year's salmon run, and to 125 percent in 2020. Kamal said there's no reason to wait to increase to the higher standard, which could save another 5,000 salmon.

"We are going to urge them to try and increase the standard to 125 percent this year, if possible," she said. "This is a three-year agreement, so we definitely support it, but we would also like it to continue beyond these three years."

Critics of spill have pointed out that the dams will generate less power, but Krehbiel said the plan is flexible, allowing dam operators to reduce spill during peak energy-demand hours.

"It allows sort of a 'best of both worlds' scenario," he said, "where we get more fish without severely impacting the amount of energy being produced."

There are only 75 Southern Resident orcas left, the lowest number in three decades. The public can comment on the Ecology Department proposal through Feb. 28.

In the long run, Krehbiel said, the federal government needs to consider removing four lower Snake River dams to better recover salmon.

The proposal and an opportunity for the public to comment are online at ws.ecology.commentinput.com.


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The state Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University are looking for volunteers to help create a new Bumble Bee Atlas.

Bees are an important part of the ecosystem, and scientists are figuring out their habitats to help them thrive.

Iowa is home to at least 14 species of bumble bees that help pollinate native wildflowers and flowering crops in farm fields and backyard gardens.

Iowa State University University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and plant pathologist Matt O'Neal said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently listed several bee species as endangered.

"And that includes the Rusty Patch bumble bee," said O'Neal, "20% of what it used to be, and that includes parts of Iowa. There is also evidence that other bumble species are in decline and so, this survey will give us a chance to see where those bees are and how abundant they are."

With that information, O'Neal said scientists can work to protect the bees' habitats and create Iowa's Bumble Bee Atlas.

It's part of a larger project to map the bees and foster bee development nationwide. Sign up online to volunteer.

The national project is part of a collaboration with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Some 900 people have volunteered for the national atlas project, and counted more than 20,000 bumble bees - which O'Neal said face several major threats.

"Pesticide exposure, parasite and pathogens," said O'Neal, "and then the last 'P,' and probably the most important, is poor forage."

The researchers will work to alleviate those threats by knowing where the bees are.

Volunteers have discovered species thought to be gone from their states, contributed to new field guides, and improved scientists' understanding of bumble bee populations across the country.




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A coalition of conservation groups has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to relist wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

Helena-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies is part of the suit. The Alliance sued to successfully overturn the wolf's delisting in 2012 but the move fell victim to congressional funding bill negotiations.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the alliance, said the wolves clearly qualify to be protected under the Act and hunting is driving down their numbers, which could cause problems for the animals.

"As their numbers decline, they are at greater risk for inbreeding," Garrity pointed out. "Once inbreeding sets in, the population is sunk."

Livestock and cattle owners argued wolves are a threat to their flocks and herds and want their numbers reduced. The suit was filed in federal District Court in Missoula.

Beyond keeping a robust population of wolves on Montana's lands and helping their species thrive, Garrity noted wolves can also help reduce the population of diseased animals.

"We're starting to have disease in deer, such as Chronic Wasting Disease," Garrity explained. "Predators like wolves are really good at focusing on the sick animals, so that's an excellent way to control Chronic Wasting Disease."

Garrity added wolf management policies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, all of which allow aggressive hunting of the animals, fail to protect wolves and all native species for future generations, the primary mandate of the Endangered Species Act.

A lawsuit over a federal agency's decision not to boost wolf protections in New Mexico and other western states has been filed, days after video surfaced showing the torture of a captured wolf.

According to accounts, a Wyoming man ran the wolf down with a snowmobile in late February, disabling it. He then took it to a local bar and posed for photos before shooting it.

Erik Molvar, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, said federal protections under the Endangered Species Act are essential because there are still those who don't respect wildlife.

"That's why wolves were driven extinct in the first place, is because these types of people were the ones who controlled the public policy discussion throughout much of the 20th century when wolves were driven extinct," he said.

In early February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to restore protections for gray wolves in western states. The agency said it concluded the animals weren't in danger of extinction under the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit was filed by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of Western Watersheds and a coalition of nine other conservation groups.

Molvar believes the federal agency's decision not to re-designate western wolves as "endangered" was profoundly misguided. He said some states such as New Mexico and Colorado have adopted extra penalties for killing wolves, but the Endangered Species Act lets hunters in other states off the hook if they claim it was a case of mistaken identity.

"There were special loopholes for Wyoming, Idaho and Montana - and also parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah - so it does beg the question of how often this is happening quietly and under the radar," he explained.

In Wyoming, wolves and coyotes, which are considered predators, aren't eligible for protections under the state's animal cruelty statute. To date, the only penalty inflicted on the person shown on social media tormenting the wolf was a $250 fine by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.