PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A recent appointee to the federal court bench in Portland has been assigned one of the Northwest’s longest and most contentious issues — the Columbia River Basin salmon case.
The U.S. District Court announced Monday that the case has been assigned to District Judge Michael Simon, confirmed last June by the U.S. Senate. Judge James Redden shepherded the case for years but the 82-year-old jurist said last week he had asked that the case be reassigned.
Redden rejected three different federal government plans for balancing the needs of wild salmon against Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams.
In addition to a long career in private practice, Simon has worked for the Justice Department. He has a law degree from Harvard.
