KWSO News 1/28/19

An early forecast by fisheries managers in Idaho suggests a poor outlook for the upcoming chinook salmon season there. The Lewiston Tribune reports a group of federal, state and tribal fisheries managers is predicting that just over 48,000 spring chinook are expected to return to the mouth of the Snake River.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Oregon. The agency says the earthquake hit a spot 286.5 miles (462.0 kilometers) west of Yachats at 7:40 p.m. Yachats is a town of about 750 people. The earthquake had a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). There are no reports of damage.

The Hoopa Valley Tribes says the federal court of appeals Friday unanimously sided with the Tribe, ruling that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of California and Oregon, and PacifiCorp can no longer stall dam license conditions to protect fish. For decades, the Hoopa Valley Tribe has urged aggressive actions to address the degraded water conditions in the Klamath River. The Tribe says mandatory conditions and prescriptions for fish passage and water flows from 2007 have been disregarded to date because of delays by the State Water Board, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and FERC.

The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians will hold its Winter Convention this week in Portland. ATNI Conventions are where members convene for discussion, presentations and the work of the committees in regard to policy, legislation, and the future of Indian Country in the Northwest.

The cost of a Forever stamp jumped 10 percent this weekend — from 50 cents to 55 cents — as the U.S. Postal Service continues to struggle financially. The price increase — the largest since 1991 — took effect Sunday. Priority Mail flat rate prices also have risen more than 5 percent on average, but the cost to mail a postcard remains at 35 cents. The U.S. Postal Service is not taxpayer funded. Instead, it generates revenue from the sale of products and services. The Postal Service lost about $3.9 billion in the 2018 fiscal year — about $1.2 billion more than the previous year.