Early Snowpack Melt & Pushing for Delisting

Early Snowpack Melt & Pushing for Delisting. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Freshman Representative Dan Newhouse from Washington has introduced a bill to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act here in Washington, as well as Oregon and Utah. Newhouse also is supporting the delisting on a national basis.

NEWHOUSE: I was joined by three dozen colleagues in Congress on a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service to urge the implementation of a rule to delist the gray wolf on a national basis from the endangered species act. I’ve asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife director whether the gray wolf should be listed and was told that the science on the wolf populations that they have actually do support that decision.

The actions by Newhouse had not made him very popular by some environmental groups.

Warm temperatures and lots of sunshine plus the lack of snow over winter is causing what snow pack there was to quickly melt according to data from the fifth 2015 forecast by the NRCS. There is still some snowpack in northern Colorado, western Montana and southern Wyoming and in addition, snowmelt from Canada will flow into the Columbia River. Most reservoirs in the west are at capacity but most experts believe that water will be quickly used leaving little for use in late summer and early fall.

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.