Dec. 23, 2010:  The Justice Department, on behalf of NOAA’s Fisheries Service, today filed briefs with the federal district court in Portland, Ore., as part of long-standing litigation over the operation of federal hydroelectric and irrigation dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and those dams’ effect on salmon and steelhead.  

The federal fisheries agency said there have been strong and in some cases record adult salmon returns to the Columbia Basin in recent years. It added that the past decade has brought substantial improvement to management of the river and to the dams themselves, along with habitat restoration and better control of salmon predators. These have helped ensure that many more young fish make it to the Pacific to take advantage of recent good ocean conditions.

The agency added that it would continue its collaboration with the region’s states and tribes and, as always, would rely on the best available science to guide its decisions.

See salmonrecovery.gov to view filing materials.