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House Natural
Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings released the
following statement regarding Judge Redden’s ruling on the
federal biological opinion and fish recovery plan for the
Federal Columbia River Power System:
“As Chairman
of the House Committee with jurisdiction over the
Northwest’s hydropower system and fisheries, I intend to
carefully review and address this matter. More thorough
comment and action will be forthcoming in the days ahead.
“A preliminary
review of this ruling, however, reveals extremely alarming
and unacceptable statements and actions by the Portland
federal judge. Judge Redden has explicitly ordered federal
agencies to consider dam removal. Not only is dam removal an
extreme action that would be devastating to the Pacific
Northwest’s economy and is not proven to recover fish, Judge
Redden has zero authority to order the removal of dams and
the agencies have no authority to breach dams. Only Congress
can authorize removal of the Northwest’s federal dams and I
can definitively state that this will not happen on my
watch.
“With this
ruling, Judge Redden has gone farther than ever before in
substituting his decades as a lawyer for the combined wisdom
of hundreds of biologists and scientists at the federal,
state and tribal agencies that joined together to develop
this broad, collaborative fish recovery plan.
“Despite broad,
collaborative agreement on a recovery plan and years of
record, or near record, fish returns, the Pacific Northwest
is entrapped in a never-ending circle of litigation and
judicial whim. At some point, reason and common sense need
to prevail over an activist judge who is intent on keeping
dam removal on the table and keeping this issue tied up in
his courtroom for years.”
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Sincerely,
Doc Hastings
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