A recovery plan for salmon in the upper Columbia River watershed has been given the green light.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has approved plans for a salmon hatchery at the Chief Joseph Dam, Washington, to help rebuild chinook runs in the upper Columbia River watershed.
The $40 million (€31.8 million) project will be funded by the Bonneville Power Administration.
The project still needs final approval of the Corps of Engineers which operates the dam and owns property where the hatchery will be built. It will produce up to 2.9 million smolts a year.
The council said the goal of the hatchery is provide a salmon harvest for Colville tribal members whose historic fishery was wiped out by the construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.
The tribe has taken the project through seven years of planning and scientific review.
[Source: The Associated Press]
