1) Project Goal: Provide information about fish and wildlife issues important to Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife policy development which assists Northwest policy makers and others in keeping up with the range of meetings and materials related to fish and wildlife issues.

2) Coverage: The contractor reviews Columbia Basin fish and wildlife policy-making activities regularly to determine which activities warrant coverage in the newsletter. (Activities covered need not occur during the week immediately prior to publication of the newsletter.) Political and legal information provided by the following institutions and forums are covered in the newsletter.

* Northwest Power Planning Council meetings related to fish and wildlife issues.
* National Marine Fisheries Service meetings related to implementation of Biological Opinions and the federal Basinwide Salmon Recovery Strategy for Columbia Basin salmon, steelhead and other potential or listed fish in the basin.
* Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority member and caucus meetings.
* Columbia Basin Tribes' meetings related to the Columbia River Basin.
* State fish and wildlife agency meetings and issues related to the Columbia River Basin.
* Other federal agency meetings related to fish and wildlife policy in the Columbia Basin.
* Key litigation related to Columbia Basin fish and wildlife policy.

3) Coverage provides for:

* an understanding of the scope of technical information used in policy decisions;
* an understanding of the multiple perspectives included in decision making;
* a presentation of various positions addressed in the decision process;
* a presentation of the political and technical constraints incorporated in decisions.

4) Content: The newsletter provides objective information directly related to meetings, documents issues and events as described above. Due to the controversial nature of fish and wildlife policy making and the fact that the newsletter will be supported with public funds, every effort is made to avoid bias and the perception of bias. Specifically the newsletter:

* Portrays positions discussed at meetings which relate to agenda items or issues which are added to agendas for discussion or decision;
* Obtains diverse reactions to documents and other items covered;
* Provides coverage of different views through direct quotes or document citations;
* Provides the names and contact information (phone number and/or e-mail address for example) for sources used in preparing the newsletter.

5) Methods Used: Attendance at meetings, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, research and specific reports, studies and other documents to produce a weekly, electronic format newsletter on fish and wildlife policy making, as well as publishing to the website for the Columbia Basin Bulletin (cbbulletin.com).

6) Deliverable: The contractor provides issues of the newsletter on a weekly basis, with exceptions for certain holiday periods.