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Coho regain status as threatened species |
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Oregon's coastal coho salmon returned to the endangered species list on Monday, as the federal government, acting on a judge's ruling that the science didn't support delisting the fish, reversed a decision from two years ago by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency tasked with restoring Northwest salmon, had advocated the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, which had relied more heavily on voluntary action by landowners to help restore salmon runs.
Conservation groups applauded the decision. Listing the coho salmon as a protected species "is in the best interest of the salmon and the many people who value and depend on them," said Chris Frissell, director of science and conservation for the Pacific Rivers Council.
The decision is the latest development in a battle over the species' status that has been waged continually since conservation groups began petitioning for federal protection in the early 1990s. The fish was listed as threatened from 1998 to 2004, but was removed from the list in 2006 when the National Marine Fisheries Service ruled it was "not likely to be endangered" in the foreseeable future.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 February 2008 )
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