Negotiations over eight years led to the creation of the Shasta River Safe Harbor Agreement, designed both to protect threatened coho salmon and allow ranchers to work their ranches without threat of incurring penalties under the endangered species act. Federal and state governments joined conservation groups in the plan to improve conditions for coho in the Shasta, a tributary of the Klamath River.
Now a different group, Friends of the Shasta River, is threatening to file a lawsuit over the plan. The announcement says the move comes with "considerable reluctance," but that the plan is too dangerous for coho.
FOSR board president Andrew Marx and board member Bruce Shoemaker lay out the concerns of their group and others joining in opposition.