Oregon Public Broadcasting

A handful of conservation groups filed a new complaint against the Bush Administration in federal court in Portland Tuesday.  The groups say the Administration’s salmon recovery plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers is inadequate.  Pete Springer reports.

Calling current salmon recovery plans reckless and illegal, conservation groups including the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the National Wildlife Federation are calling on Congress to help declining fish populations.

Todd True is with Earthjustice.  He’s blunt when he describes the Bush Administration’s most recent salmon recovery plan, released last month.

Todd True: “The new plan is the same ol’ pig we’ve seen before.  It’s dressed in a different tutu but it still can’t dance.” 

They say warmer rivers and less snowmelt are affecting salmon and need to be addressed in the recovery plan.

The groups also renewed calls to remove four lower Snake River dams, which the government has ruled out.

The salmon plan they're objecting to is still under court review.

The Bush Administration has been trying for several years to write a Salmon Recovery plan that survives federal court scrutiny.