Salmon are endangered because of problems with habitat, harvest and hatcheries as well as the hydropower system. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) calls for determinations and actions to conserve wildlife species from the risk of extinction. In particular, ESA Section 7(a)(2), 16 U.S.C.A. § 1536(a)(2), requires Federal agencies insure that their actions meet certain standards when they affect species determined to be “endangered” or “threatened” as those terms are defined by the ESA. Applying these standards to the effects of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) on thirteen anadromous fish species, that is, salmon and steelhead trout, in the Columbia River Basin is the principal objective of the 2008 FCRPS Biological Opinion.

NOAA Fisheries finds that with the actions in the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA), the BiOp meets the law’s requirement to protect fish and improves their prospects for recovery. The RPA:

• Identifies high performance standards for survival of juvenile fish through the dams
• Specifies hydrosystem spill and operations timed to the needs of individual species
• Expands the habitat program
• Expands the predation-management program
• Sets specific commitments and timetables for site-specific hatchery consultations and reforms