Oregon Public Broadcasting

Tuesday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked the federal government to withdraw its salmon recovery plan for the Columbia River Basin.

The Governor says the plan didn't do enough to help rebuild endangered salmon populations in the Northwest. All this over a biological study? Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey explains.

In the Pacific Northwest it's not unusual to see a headline that says something like, 'Feds Release Biological Plan for Columbia River' or, just as often, 'Judge Overturns Feds Biological Plan.'

But who really cares about some obscure biological research on the river basin?

As it turns out, because of the 35-year-old Endangered Species Act, these reports are critically important.

Basically, these 'biological opinions' are report cards. They include a grade - either an 'A', an 'incomplete' or an 'F'.

Dan Rohlf is an environmental law professor at Lewis & Clark law school.

Dan Rohlf: "If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service issues a biological opinion that concludes the federal agency's proposal may jeopardize threatened or endangered species, that's essentially the kiss of death for that particular proposal.”

Most of the high-profile projects we hear about get the 'incomplete.' That is, they can be approved, but with modifications.

Conservatives still believe the law is a mistake - that it includes too many regulatory hurdles.

But the Endangered Species Act forces federal agencies to assure that their projects won't harm endangered species.

This applies to any project. If it's something benign, like building a park bench, it can be fast tracked. But if it's bigger, say operating the dams on the Columbia River, a biological opinion can be a massive project.

Dan Rohlf: “That most recent biological opinion, from May of 2008, is at least a couple of thousand pages long. The National Marine Fisheries service worked on it for the better part of a year and a half.”

To write the reports, the federal government employs legions of top scientists in two agencies: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Dan Rohlf: “The National Marine Fisheries Service used to be a sleepy little office in Portland that was always saying 'think about salmon', but now with salmon protected, the National Marine Fisheries Service has tremendous legal authority.”

OSU-Cascade's Matt Shinderman teaches students about biological opinions and natural resources.

Matt Shinderman: “We're in Shevlin Park right now, and if you look around, the park has been doing a variety of treatments to get the forests back to a healthy condition.”

Matt Shinderman is a natural resources instructor at Oregon State University's Cascades campus in Bend.

Matt Shinderman: “Shevlin Park, if they were to take an action that would impact on federal laws, say the clean water act, let's say they decided to pipe their effluent directly from the restroom into the stream. They would have to apply for a federal permit for that. Not to mention that this is bull trout habitat, and bull trout are listed species.”

If the park wants to funnel restroom waste into the creek, it would have to get a biological opinion proving that it wouldn't risk endangered bull trout.

But if somehow federal biologists found that the restroom project was a-okay ... well, then anyone, including environmental groups, could challenge the decision.

And because biological opinions have the force of law under the Endangered Species Act, that means a federal lawsuit.

Here's Dan Rohlf again, from Lewis & Clark.

Dan Rohlf: “The lawsuit is litigated based on the administrative record. There aren't experts, there is no trial that takes place, but the judge will closely look at the record before the agencies.”

Rohlf says the biologists are usually impartial professionals. But he believes the process has been politicized under the Bush Administration.

OSU's Matt Shinderman, in Bend, agrees. Plus, he says, both sides have abused the legal system in recent years.

Matt Shinderman: “But we also have some of the most contentious issues in the country when it comes to endangered species. Northern spotted owl was a lightning rod, same thing as salmon. Part of that is because we still have so many public lands intact, and we are very fortunate to have these problems in a way.”

And he says we continue to be governed by them.

This month, the biological opinion for salmon recovery in the Willamette Valley was issued. And in June, environmentalists sued over the most recent plan to operate the dams on the Columbia River.