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Show DAILY HERALD B6 Sunday, April 6. 2008 Federal judgebloeks Salmon collapse could lead to Pacific fishing ban uranium company's test near Grand Canyon Terence Chea ASSOCIATED THE THE ASSOCIATED SAN FRANCISCO The stunning collapse of one of ' the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs has prompted d fishermen even to call for an unprecedented shutdown of salmon fishing off the coasts of California and the environmental groups are Bob Christie PRESS PHOENIX A federal judge has blocked a mining company from exploring for uranium near the Grand Canyon, agreeing with environmental groups which sued the U.S. Forest Service for approving the plan without full environmental reviews. The Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust and Center for Biological Diversity sued the Forest Service last month for allowing British mining company VANE Minerals Group to drill at up to 39 locations on seven sites on the Kaibab National Forest. The company is seeking commercial quantities of uranium, which has soared in price in recent years and resulted in a wave of new development. U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia in Phoenix issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction stopping the drilling late Friday after a hearing, said Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director for the Sierra Club's Arizona chapter. The Forest Service approved the drilling in December, using a categorical exclusion, a decision which required only minimal environmental review, Murguia rejected that analysis, Bahr said. "She basically told the Forest Service that uranium mining and exploration near the Grand Canyon, two miles from the park, is not routine, not and they misused the categorical exclusion," Bahr told The Associated Press Saturday. VANE had begun exploratory drilling at three test sites since the suit was filed, but the judge's order immediately halts operations. A restraining order does not permanently stop the exploration, but Murguia indicated that the groups were likely to prevail after a full hearing. If that happens, the Forest . Service could be required to conduct the full assessment . PRESS seeking. Forest Service spokeswoman Jackie Denk declined comment Saturday, citing the ongoing litigation. " When it approved the exploration, the Forest Service said the 1872 Mining Law specifically authorizes mining on public lands and it coukhVt prohibit the activity. It said it restricted the test bores to areas near existing roads and placed other restrictions on the company's activity. The environmental groups' suit says federal officials should have considered the proximity of the Grand Canyon, the controversy surrounding uranium mining and the combined effects of four other uranium exploration projects in the area. V "The judge's decision reinforces our belief that the current uranium boom poses the most significant threat that Grand Canyon has faced in many years," the Grand Canyon Trust's Richard Mayol said in a statement. "Grand Canyon isnt the place for new uranium development. U.S. Rep.; Raul Grijalva, is sponsoring a bill to ban mineral exploration under the 1872 Mining Act from a million acres near the Grand Canyon. He held a field hearing in Flagstaff on March 28 where Indian leaders, scientists, local business interests and the superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park warned of dire consequences if uranium mining is allowed to proceed. Mining proponents, including VANE Minerals' director, sought to assure congressional panelists that uranium mining today is far safer than it was a half century ago. The 1.6 million-acr- e Kaibab National Forest is broken up into three districts and extends both north and south of the Grand Canyon National Park. The test drilling was immediately south of the canyon. There are about 1,600 mining claims on the district where .the exploration is planned. cash-strappe- Oregoa "There's likely no fish, so what are you going to be fishing for?" said Duncan MacLean, a fisherman from Half Moon Bay, "I have no problem sitting out to rebuild this resource if that's what's necessary." The Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Seattle this coming week and will likely vote to impose the most severe restrictions ever on West Coast salmon fishing to protect California's dwindling chinook stocks. The Sacramento River Chinook run is usually one of the most productive on the Pacific Coast, providing the bulk of the salmon caught by sport and commercial trailers off California and Oregoa But only about 90,000 adult .. chinook returned to the Cen-- Y. tral Valley last fall the sec-- . ond lowest number on record and well below what's needed to maintain a healthy fishery. , That number is projected to fall to a record low of 58,000 this year. By contrast, 775,000 adults were counted in the Sacramento River and its tributaries as recently as 2002. "This stock got of bad very suddenly," said Donald Mclsaac, the council's executive director. "It's a veryf very severe ; ,- : :s v Y . KURT ROGERSThe San Francisco Chronicle Tom Brenot hauls in this salmon fozJtukio Manabe, foreground, in this April 7, 2007, file photo during the opening day of salmon season near San Francisco. Federal fisheries ' managers took the first step Friday, March 14, 2008, toward imposing what could be the strictest limits ever on West Coast salmon fishing amid a collapse of the central California chinook salmon fishery. situ-atio- a" The council which regulates Pacific Coast fisheries, will choose between three management options: a total ban on salmon fishing off the coast of California and Oregon; extremely limited fishing in select areas; or fishing for scientific research. The council is also expected to set strict limits on salmon fishing off the coast of Washington to protect that state's declining chinook and echo stocks. The council's final decision is expected April 10. The National Marine Fisheries Ser j, ? vice will then decide whether ; to implement the regulations -- catch-and-relea- ' J. marine predators and ocean conditions. Many scientists point to unusual weather patterns that disrupted the marine food chain along the Pacific Coast in 2005, when thousands of seabirds washed up dead or starving because they couldn't find enough to eat. Researchers believe those poor ocean conditions also devastated the juvenile salmon that would have returned to the Central Valley last year. Young chinook couldn't find the tiny shrimp and fish they depend on to survive. , "The fish went to the ocean in 2005 and found nothing to ; eat when they got there. They either starved to death or - s got so weak from not eating salmon, they're enough that they got eaten by not going to have that choice." predators," said Bill Peterson, an oceanographer with the Biologists and others are National Marine Fisheries trying to figure out what caused the salmon collapse Service. so they can make sure CaliPeterson said ocean condifornia's chinook populations tions have improved since rebound. then, which could help revive There are many potential West Coast salmon populafactors because wild salmon tions. are born in streams and rivMany fishermen and eners, migrate to the ocean when vironmentalists believe the main problem lies in the Sacrthey're juveniles and spend two to four years there before amento-San Joaquin Delta, which juvenile salmon must returning to spawn in the ar-- . eas where they were bora In swim through to get to the between they have to navigate ocean. They say too much wathe often treacherous waters ter is being diverted to farms Joaof the Sacramento-Sa- n and water districts in the San quin Delta and San Francisco Joaquin Valley and Southern California. Bay. The council has asked They want the state and state and federal scientists to federal government to limit research 46 possible causes, pumping from the delta, which disorients migrating salmon including water diversions, habitat destruction, dam opand kills young fish that get erations, agricultural pollution, sucked into the powerful by May 1. The Central Valley collapse is a blow to fishermen, tackle shops, charter boat operators and other businesses that depend on commercial and recreational salmon fishing. For consumers, it will be hard to find any chinook, also known as king salmon, which is prized by anglers, seafood connoisseurs and upscale restaurants. There should still be abundant supplies of farm-raise- d salmon and wild sock-ey- e from Alaska, but prices could be higher. "It's going to be devastating ' Jo the marketplace to have no vuuiomia King saimon ai ail," said David Goldenberg, ? f CEO pt the California Salmon r: " ...1 t ir.wn ii- - . . r ;f i Ji-- . 1 high-qualit- y ''V Check. us out! new this month! XaJendar of events ' 3 forum of friends 'fun exciting, videos f and much more! , " '. . pumps. They're also calling for a reduction in agricultural runoff and the restoration of salmon habitat in the rivers. "We did have some poor ocean conditions, but that doesn't explain why the Central Valley stocks took such a severe hit," said Zeke Grader, who heads the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "Young salmon need a place they can safely migrate through. This is a critical life stage when they need to gain weight and strength so they can survive in the ocean." But state water officials be-- , lieve the ocean is the chief culprit. The water pumps continue to meet stringent operating standards, and while more water has been diverted in recent years, there's also been more water available to export, said Jerry Johns, deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources. "Ocean conditions are the most likely cause here," Johns said. "The requirements that we have to abide by to protect these fish haven't changed in , the last several years." Most scientists agree that a combination of factors caused the Central Valley crash, and the fishery can be revived un: der the right conditions. "They do have an amazing capacity to bounce back," said Peter Moyle, a fisheries biolo-- ' gist at the University of Cali- - ) fornia, Davis. 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