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16 CapitalPress.com October 16, 2015 FERC staff document opposes dam on southeast Idaho river roups signal plan to sue feds in effort to save trout Construction of new storage reservoir in Oneida Narrows an environmental concern BOIS , Idaho (A ) A federal plan to bolster threat- ened populations of bull WURXW LQ ¿YH :HVWHUQ VWDWHV falls short, two conservation JURXSV VDLG DV WKH\ ¿OHG QR- tice of their intention to sue the government. The proposal to aid the ¿VK¶V UHFRYHU\ YLRODWHV WKH ndangered Species Act, the groups Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan said in a notice Wednesday to Interior Secre- tary Sally Jewell. “They essentially want to UHGH¿QH UHFRYHU\ WR DOPRVW e tinct,” said Mike arrity, e ecutive director of Alli- ance for the Wild Rockies. “They’re lowering the bar so they can delist bull trout.” The .S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday that it does not comment on pend- ing litigation. The agency last month released a proposal outlining ways to boost bull trout populations in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Mon- tana and a tiny portion of Ne- vada. The groups say the plan doesn’t set measurable goals for removing the species from the endangered list. Bull trout prey on young salmon and salmon eggs and have declined along with that By JOHN O’CONNELL WKH ¿YH )(5& FRPPLVVLRQHUV ultimately vote on the license. Miller said no public comment R STON, Idaho Staff ZLOOEHWDNHQRQWKH¿QDO(,6 members with the Federal n- She said the timeline for ergy Regulatory Commission LVVXDQFH RI D ¿QDO (,6 DQG D have made a preliminary rec- vote by the commission “real- ommendation against licensing ly depends on the number and a proposed storage reservoir scope of comments we get on within the Oneida Narrows the draft.” stretch of the Bear River in In the event of a license de- southeast Idaho. nial, Twin Lakes would have 30 In a draft environmental im- days to appeal for a rehearing pact statement issued Sept. 30, by the same F RC commis- F RC staffers argued the loss sioners. of recreational opportunities The 10 -foot earthen dam and critical habitat for sensitive would be overlaid with con- wildlife, including Bonneville crete and form a 362-acre res- cutthroat trout, would outweigh ervoir with a storage capacity the project’s hydropower and of 12,647 acre-feet. The project VWRUDJHEHQH¿WV would also include a 10-mega- Irrigators with Twin Lakes watt power facility, which Canal Co., who routinely cope would generate revenue to help with water shortages, applied pipe the company’s canal sys- for a F RC dam license in No- tem. vember of 2013. Twin Lakes resident Clair Issuance of the draft IS has Bosen declined comment on the triggered a public comment pe- F RC licensing project, at his riod scheduled to run through board’s directive, but empha- Nov. 30, said F RC spokes- si ed the general importance of woman Celeste Miller. She said water in an arid state. public comment on the draft “Idaho is a desert. We all will be addressed in the staff’s need to conserve water,” Bosen ¿QDO(,6ZKLFKZLOOVHUYHDVDQ said. “The .S. has got to be RI¿FLDO UHFRPPHQGDWLRQ ZKHQ concerned about getting water Capital Press stored, just like we store fruits and vegetables in winter to use in the summer.” This season, Bosen said his irrigators were allocat- ed 1.2-acre-foot allotments, compared with 2 acre-feet in a normal year. Bosen added that there’s little carryover in his company’s reservoirs. “We were all drained out,” Bosen said. According to F RC’s draft By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press IS, the proposed dam would have provided an average of 3,110 acre-feet of e tra storage per year from 1 0 through 2010, reducing farm produc- tion losses by an average of 146,170 per year. The 230 Twin Lakes shareholders irri- gate 16,000 acres. But the draft F RC docu- ment also concluded the pro- posal would harm 48 state-des- ignated sensitive wildlife VSHFLHV DQG ÀRRG D PLOH reach that “supports a region- DOO\VLJQL¿FDQWULYHULQH%RQQH- YLOOHFXWWKURDWUHFUHDWLRQDO¿VK- HU\´ WKDW GUDZV URXJKO\ anglers per year. “The overall, unavoidable adverse environmental effects would outweigh the potential VWRUDJHEHQH¿WVRIWKHSURMHFW´ the staff wrote. evin Lewis, conservation director with Idaho Rivers nit- ed, noted the Idaho epartment of Water Resources has already denied water rights for the project. Lewis believes construction of the dam would lead to an endangered species listing for Bonneville cutthroat trout. He argued Idaho’s best dam sites have already been developed. “I don’t have any concern that (F RC) will reverse the recommendation of this draft IS,” Lewis said. Ryan Brennecke/AP File photo Two conservation groups say a federal plan to bolster bull WURXWLQ¿YH:HVWHUQVWDWHV IDOOVVKRUWDQGWKH\¶YH¿OHGD 60-day notice of their intention to sue. ¿VK 7KH WURXW ZDV OLVWHG DV threatened in the Lower 48 states in 1 and now occu- py only about 60 percent of their former range. Threats to the cold-water species include warming wa- ter caused by climate change, isolated populations, hybrid- i ation with non-native brook trout, and competition from foreign lake trout, e perts say. The recovery plan stems from the settlement of a law- suit last year by the same two environmental groups. Feder- al agencies and other entities can use it to guide conserva- WLRQHIIRUWVRI¿FLDOVVDLG Hamilton City FFA Thinks Pink rol was the last d quality cont ured are Tying bows an stribution. Pict step before di ncia and le Va ac Isa r student teache hnson. Jo de Ca t FFA Presiden Janice Lohse, FFA Advisor (530) 570-3778 jlohse@husdschools.org Some 360 wrapped carnations are shown ready for distribution. Students pictured are Lizette Diaz, Kathy Valle, Ana Ramirez, Chantal Ortiz, Jesus Ortiz, Chairman Mariana Rios, Rebekah Erickson, Leticia Ojeda and Frida Valle. 42-2/#13 Committee members trim carnations and place water vials, sleeves, early detection brochures and an FFA sticker. FFA members pictured are Ariel Leal, Ezequiel Polino, James Elliott, Emmy Henning and Javi Bravo. By Mori Leveroni Chapter Reporter With 1-in-8 women being diagnosed in their lifetime, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Hamilton City, Calif., FFA is using the awareness month of October as another opportunity to stick by this year’s motto, “Living to Serve.” On Oct. 7, members of the chapter came together and assembled over 350 carnation wraps in order to reach out to the community through education and support. The wraps were composed of a pink carnation and an informational brochure with facts and symptoms about this tragic disease. The members then set out and gave away the flowers free of charge at local coffee shops, grocery stores and even to teachers in the district. Our annual pink campaign could not have been achieved if it wasn’t for the help of our 200 members. Hamilton High School is a small school located in Northern California. We have a small town feel and pride ourselves on having two-thirds of our school participate in FFA. As a chapter we pride ourselves in being active in our community, which can be seen with our pink carnation event. We hope that by spreading awareness locally, we can inspire others to take the first step and get checked. Contact Information: Mori Leveroni, FFA Reporter (530) 774-6674 morileveroni.hhs2018@gmail.com