At its May 2020 meeting, the Council approved to release for public review and comment the Revised Draft Part I of what will be the 2020 Addendum to the 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
The Council began the amendment process in May of 2018 by soliciting recommendations for program amendments from the region’s state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes, and others, as required by the Northwest Power Act. After reviewing the recommendations, supporting information, and comments received on the recommendations, in July of 2019, the Council issued a draft 2020 Addendum composed of two parts: Part I on program performance and Part II on program implementation. Based on the comments received on the draft, in December of 2019, the Council decided to extend the time for deciding on Part I to allow staff to work with the fish and wildlife agencies and tribes in a focused process to refine and revise Part I. The Council proceeded with Part II, and Part II of the 2020 Addendum was adopted by the Council in January 2020.
Pursuant to the Council’s decision to extend the time for deciding on Part I, staff held a number of technical workshops in early 2020 in which the Council received significant input on the program goals, objectives and strategy performance indicators from representatives of the fish and wildlife agencies and tribes as well as others. With the conclusion of those workshops in April, the Council prepared this revised draft of Part I of the 2020 Addendum. The purpose of Part I is to describe how the Council and others will assess the program’s performance and improve program implementation using an adaptive management approach, and includes a reorganization and elaboration of the program’s goals, objectives and performance indicators.