Noble v. Department of Fish & Wildlife

In a judicial review of an order of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), the Court of Appeals rejected petitioners’ contention that ODFW’s approval of “channel-spanning fishways” associated with two small, privately maintained dams downstream from their property violated state law, including ODFW’s own rules, pertaining to fish passage for native migratory fish. Petitioners had argued that the approvals were inconsistent with administrative rules and statutes that, in their view, require that fish passage be provided whenever water is flowing past the dams, whether over the tops…