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I think the President got it wrong on salmon.  NOAA Fisheries (Commerce) is in charge of the recovery plan for salmon whether they are in freshwater or saltwater.   Interior's (USFWS) role with salmon  is relatively minor. 

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) share responsibility for implementing the ESA. Generally, USFWS manages land and freshwater species, while NMFS manages marine and "anadromous" species. NMFS has jurisdiction over 72 listed species.

SEE:  http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Recovery-Planning/ESA-Recovery-Plans/Draft-Plans.cfm

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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Regarding performance audits, this is a SOS for the new SOS.

I think the first priority for the new Secretary of State should be an audit of environmental enforcement agencies. The Oregonian reported on November 15 2005 that a group of college students at Lewis and Clark College were collecting more in environmental penalties than DEQ. See http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Oregonain_new_version.pdf

Oregon Department of Agriculture is charged by SB 1010 with protecting water quality, yet this summer in the Tualatin River we experienced the worst agricultural pollution in decades, resulting in a public health advisory yet no enforcement action. How is ODA doing at protecting water quality.

See: http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=121807219738753300
AND http://news.opb.org/article/2770-waqter-quality-question-along-tualatin-river-summer/.

The Oregonian reported on November 15 2005 that a group of college students at Lewis and Clark College were collecting more in environmental penalties than DEQ. Why are volunteer college students doing more for environmental enforcement than Oregon's chief environmental enforcement agency?
See http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Oregonain_new_version.pdf

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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I think a show on DEQ's (and other state agencies') reluctance (failure) to enforce environmental laws and regulations is needed. You touched on this when you interviewed the Attorney General candidates last fall.

Rob Manning had a story on OPB radio last week about DEQ and Oregon Department of Agriculture's failure to enforce water quality rules at Wapato Lake upstream of the Joint Water Commission's Drinking Water Plant south of Forest Grove.

One of the most embarrassing stories on this issue for state agencies was reported in the Sunday Oregonian in November 2005. The story revealed that student volunteers at the Northwest Environmental Defense Center at Lewis & Clark Law School collect more in environmental penalties than DEQ and Oregon Department of Justice combined. You can read this story online at
[url]http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Oregonain_new_version.pdf[/url]

The proliferation of public service law firms and nonprofits in Oregon taking on environmental enforcement is a telltale sign of the failure of state agencies to take on their mandates. A few examples
[list}Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center
Cascade Resources Advocacy Group
Northwest Environmental Advocates
Western Environmental Law Center
Northwest Environmental Defense Center
Tualatin Riverkeepers
Columbia Riverkeeper
Willamette Riverkeeper
Pacific Rivers Council
Water Watch of Oregon[/list]
...and the list goes on. Courts are overloaded because state agencies won't step up and enforce. People downstream are victims of polluters upstream and society subsidizes polluters by cleaning up their messes for them.

Please address this issue in a future edition of Think Out Loud, preferably before the November elections.

Brian Wegener
Watershed Watch Coordinator
Tualatin Riverkeepers
[url]http://www.tualatinriverkeepers.org[/url]

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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