NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Idaho group recommends ways to bolster salmon, steelhead
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — A
group brought together by
Idaho Gov. Brad Little to
fi nd ways to bolster faltering
salmon and steelhead popu-
lations has agreed to encour-
age habitat restoration but
avoided making a decision
about breaching dams.
The report released over
the weekend by the Repub-
lican governor’s workgroup
fl atly states it’s not a recov-
ery plan. Rather, it’s a list of
recommendations approved
by a group that includes con-
servationists, power compa-
nies, farmers, tribes, irriga-
tors and ranchers.
At the group’s fi rst meet-
ing in June 2019, Little
tasked members with fi nd-
ing achievable goals to
improve struggling salmon
and steelhead populations.
They met an additional 15
times through December
2020 to hash out recommen-
dations, including creating a
statewide inventory of hab-
itat in all river basins and
collaborating with property
owners and water users to
improve habitat.
“I am proud of what
the workgroup has accom-
plished over the last 18
months,” Little said in a
statement to The Associ-
ated Press. “This is the fi rst
time a broad group of stake-
Pete Zimowsky/Idaho Statesman, File
A working group of diverse interests convened by Idaho Gov. Brad Little to fi nd consensus ways to bolster faltering salmon
and steelhead populations has released a report encouraging habitat restoration and collaboration but steering clear of
dam breaching.
holders has worked collab-
oratively to help shape Ida-
ho’s policy on salmon and
steelhead. Over the next few
weeks, I will review the rec-
ommendations provided by
the workgroup. While a lot
remains to be done, I am
confi dent we are moving in
the right direction.”
Thirteen species of
Columbia River Basin
salmon and steelhead are
listed for protection under
the Endangered Species
Act, including all salmon
and steelhead that return to
Idaho.
The Idaho populations
once numbered more than
2.3 million fi sh combined,
the report said. Now, they
number about 45,000.
The group adopted
Columbia Basin Partner-
ship goals for Idaho runs
that call for a low goal of
75,000 fi sh and a high goal
of 385,000. The partnership
is a task force that NOAA
Fisheries’ Marine Fisheries
Advisory Committee put
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
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Rain at times
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together in 2017.
The Idaho Conservation
League, which took part
in Little’s panel, “believes
the workgroup’s recom-
mendations, if adopted and
implemented, will be useful
ways for the state of Idaho
and all Idahoans to help
our fi sh,” executive direc-
tor Justin Hayes said in a
statement. “This is a mean-
ingful
accomplishment,
one that likely would not
have happened without this
workgroup.”
La Grande medical practice employee
sentenced to four years in federal prison
Anndrea D. Jacobs
must also pay
more than $1.2M
in restitution
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
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PENDLETON
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48/40
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41/34
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Enterprise
45/36
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Lake
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40/29
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Medford
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ENE 4-8
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Sunrise today
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Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
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East Oregonian
39° 34°
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NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
The league was among
the members that support
breaching four dams on the
lower Snake River in East-
ern Washington that are
blamed for killing many
salmon and steelhead. Oth-
ers oppose that move.
“Limiting our recom-
mendations to only those
that would enjoy consen-
sus support meant that there
were many policy ideas dis-
cussed but not advanced,”
the report said. “Consensus
on dam breach/retirement
could not be reached.”
But the group did support
operating dams to maximize
benefi ts to fi sh and minimize
effects on power generation.
Idaho Power, a public
utility with about 570,000
customers in Idaho and
Eastern Oregon, took part
in the workgroup. The com-
pany has 17 dams to gener-
ate electricity and operates
four hatcheries to produce
salmon and steelhead.
“Given the objective of
creating consensus-based
recommendations, the scope
and depth of the measures
are quite impressive, espe-
cially given the large size and
diverse nature of the group,”
Brett Dumas, the company’s
environmental affairs direc-
tor, said in an email.
The group agreed that
restoring sustainable salmon
and steelhead runs would
provide jobs and tourism
benefi ts.
It also said state offi cials
should get more involved in
regional forums that regu-
late the harvest of Columbia
basin salmon and steelhead.
Members agreed to con-
tinue coordinating with fed-
eral authorities to ensure
fi shing seasons can occur for
salmon and steelhead, and
that Idaho should promote
federal programs that pro-
tect fi sh from predators like
sea lions that feed at the base
of dams.
PORTLAND — A La
Grande woman was sen-
tenced
to
federal
prison
on
Tu e s d a y,
Jan. 5, for
defrauding
two sepa-
rate employ-
Jacobs
ers and fi l-
ing false tax
returns, according to a press
release from U.S. Attorney
Billy J. Williams.
Anndrea D. Jacobs, 49, a
former offi ce manager and
bookkeeper for a La Grande
medical practice, was sen-
tenced to four years in fed-
eral prison and fi ve years of
supervised release after pre-
viously pleading guilty to fi l-
ing a false personal income
tax return, falsely imper-
sonating an IRS employee,
aggravated identity theft and
bank fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Ryan Bounds, formerly of
Hermiston, wrote the gov-
ernment’s sentencing rec-
ommendation for Jacobs.
“Defendant Anndrea D.
Jacobs is a persistent swin-
dler,” according to Bounds’
six-page memo. “Over the
course of a decade — and
perhaps longer — she stole
business receipts, loan pro-
ceeds, and tax payments
from the medical and den-
tal practices at which she
worked, diverting more than
$1.1 million dollars from
them to sustain a lavish per-
sonal lifestyle and her own
failing businesses.”
According to court doc-
uments, beginning on or
about January 2011 and con-
tinuing until her termination
in December 2015, Jacobs
used her position and access
to a medical practice’s
fi nances to steal money
from the practice by, among
other means, writing busi-
ness checks to herself or for
her own benefi t. Jacobs used
the stolen funds to make
payments on personal credit
cards and pay other personal
expenses unrelated to the
medical practice.
In an attempt to hide her
actions, Jacobs prepared
and maintained false busi-
ness fi nancial records, over-
stating expenses and esti-
mated tax payments. She
also opened a business bank
account without the knowl-
edge or consent of the med-
ical practice owner, depos-
ited a business check payable
to the Oregon Department of
Revenue into her own per-
sonal account, gave the prac-
tice owner falsifi ed property
tax statements with total due
balances of zero, and con-
vinced the practice owner to
grant her limited power of
attorney to handle the prac-
tice’s pending IRS tax-col-
lection action.
Jacobs also created a fi c-
titious identity as an IRS
Taxpayer Advocate named
“Linda Gibson,” established
a phone number and voice-
mail account for the fake
identity, and purported to
assist the medical practice
owner with his IRS tax col-
lection issues while purport-
ing to be “Linda Gibson.”
A federal grand jury in
Portland returned a 15-count
indictment in 2018 charging
Jacobs with wire fraud, fi l-
ing false tax returns, aiding
or assisting the preparation
of false tax returns, falsely
impersonating an employee
of the U.S. and aggravated
identity theft. Jacobs’ pre-
trial release was revoked
in June 2020 for com-
mitting bank fraud while
embezzling from a second
employer — a dental prac-
tice in Hood River — and
Jacobs was indicted a second
time for the new scheme.
During
sentencing,
U.S. District Court Chief
Judge Marco A. Hernandez
ordered Jacobs to pay more
than $1.2 million in restitu-
tion to two former employ-
ers, Wells Fargo Bank and
the IRS.
IN BRIEF
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