Elwha: Hatchery Battle Gets Heated

Dear Honorable Civil Servants: You have officially been served notice. Earlier today, the Wild Fish Conservancy, The Conservation Angler, the Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee, and the Wild Steelhead Coalition served legal notice that they would file suit against the Olympic National Park, NOAA Fisheries Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The groups allege that the fish hatchery plan that the agencies are implementing for the Elwha River violates the ESA by harming Puget Sound Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout without the proper authorization.

“The federal government has already taken steps to remove Elwha Dam and Glines Canyon Dam and open up miles of pristine riverine habitat in Olympic National Park, with actual demolition scheduled to begin this fall. But instead of relying on colonization of the habitat by wild salmonids, however, the federal and state agencies are going ahead with a plan that includes a new $16 million fish hatchery that will increase production of steelhead not native to the basin.”

With the dam demolition kick-off starting this weekend, the contentious hatchery debate thickens. Meanwhile, federal agencies have 60 day’s notice to plot any remedial actions with regards to the Elwha River Fish Restoration Plan and associated hatchery operations.

From the legal notice:

You are hereby informed that, unless the violations described herein are remedied within sixty days, the organizations listed below intend to sue the National Park Service and its Director Jonathan B. Jarvis (collectively, “NPS”), the United States Department of the Interior and its Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar (collectively, “DOI”), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and its Director Daniel M. Ashe (collectively, “USFWS”), the United States Department of Commerce and its Acting Secretary Rebecca M. Blank (collectively, “DOC”), NOAA Fisheries Service and its Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric C. Schwaab (collectively, “NOAA Fisheries”), and the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Phil Anderson (“WDFW”) for violations of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531, et al., associated with approving, funding, and/or implementing the Elwha River Fish Restoration Plan and associated hatchery operations.

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