Northwest Resource Information Center, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service

In this first of three related cases, 1 we are called upon to referee another round in the struggle between various federal agencies, environmental groups, fisheries interests, and electric power interests to come up with a viable program to preserve the dwindling stocks of wild salmon in the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest. In this appeal, we must decide whether two federal agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service, have complied with their duties under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act in two of their efforts to preserve the salmon — river flow improvement measures and the transportation program for juvenile salmon.

I

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) operates certain dams, reservoirs, and other facilities in the Columbia and Snake River Basin that constitute the Federal Columbia River Power System (“FCRPS”). 3 While the FCRPS has been an abundant source of inexpensive electricity to the region, it has also had drastic environmental impacts. “[I]t is generally accepted that the Basin’s hydropower system is a major factor in the decline of some salmon and…