Oregon Trout Unlimited State of the Union

Trout Unlimited Chapter 678 sent representatives to the Oregon State Council meeting last weekend in Portland. Conservation Officer Karl Mueller wrote up the proceedings in a recent blog post.

Highlights include:

An update on the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) Carmen-Smith relicensing. Carmen-Smith is a hydropower project on the upper Mckenzie that blocks upstream passage for ESA listed Chinook and Bull trout.

Excitement over the TU-spearheaded Copper-Salmon Wilderness.

A look at the potential settlement of the Klamath Pacificorp relicensing issue.

Check out the post for the full report.

Redden rips latest salmon plan

From an article in The Oregonian:

In a blunt letter to attorneys who will appear in his Portland courtroom Wednesday in a landmark salmon lawsuit, U.S. District Judge James A. Redden signaled that the government is close to fumbling its last chance to help fish hammered by federal hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Make your voice heard at GiveADamForSalmon.org.

Switch for Salmon

TU is launching a new campaign to get electricity customers in the PAC NW to save energy and pledge to do it for salmon recovery. The idea is that if you do the following, you reduce your household energy consumption 14%:

Switch out just three-quarters of my light bulbs to compact fluorescents: save 5%

Switch to running only full loads in the dryer: save 2%

Switch off lights when not in use: save 3%

Switch to air drying half my washed clothing: save 3%

Switch to running only full loads in the dishwasher: save 1%

From the site: Even if you've already made these changes, and many of you already do much more, it's important you let us know so we can demonstrate to the federal dam operators that consumers recognize the ties between power use and fish, and we're willing to change our power habits to help bring our salmon and steelhead back.

Sign the pledge.