The Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) evaluated 397 project proposals submitted for funding within the Northwest Power Planning Council’s (NPPC or Council) Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP) for FY2000. As a result of our evaluation, we placed the individual proposals in one of five funding recommendation categories: 1) fund; 2) fund in part; 3) fund for one year, with subsequent funding contingent on addressing deficiencies identified by the ISRP; 4) delay funding until deficiencies are corrected; and 5) do not fund. In addition, we identified those proposals that were particularly innovative or adequate for multi-year approval.
Our FY2000 report is presented in two volumes. Volume I (Review of the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, FY2000) describes the formation of the ISRP, its review charge, the review process used for FY2000, including an extensive use of the Peer Review Groups (PRGs). This is followed by a comparison with our FY1999 review, an overall assessment of the FY2000 review, and programmatic recommendations. Volume I continues with sections that describe innovative proposals, a multi-year review cycle for proposals, and ISRP funding recommendations that disagree with recommendations from CBFWA (Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority). The volume concludes with the ISRP’s review of projects organized by subbasin or programmatic topics.
Volume I contains 27 ISRP recommendations that, like those in our previous reports, are set off from the surrounding text in boxes.
Volume II (Review and Recommendations of Individual FY2000 Project Proposals) contains summary reviews for each project proposal submitted in the FY2000 cycle. Each proposal review includes summaries of the Peer Review Group (PRG) comments and a consensus statement from the ISRP recommending for or against funding, based on criteria provided in the congressional language in the legislation that established the ISRP (the 1996 amendment to the Northwest Power Act).
Aside from some brief introductory material, Volume II deals exclusively with the summary reviews and recommendations for each of the 397 FY2000 proposals. ISRP recommendations in Volume II are specific to each proposal. It is the ISRP’s intent that the recommendation specific to each project proposal in Volume II be viewed as equivalent to the boxed recommendations of Volume I. As such, they are formal ISRP recommendations to the Council on FY2000 funding decisions.
