Montana and Washington members will lead Council in 2011

MISSOULA, Montana – Members of the Council today re-elected Bruce Measure, a Montana member, chair of the Council for 2011, and Dick Wallace, a Washington member, vice chair. It is the second consecutive year for both as chair and vice chair, respectively.

"I am honored to be elected to chair the Council again in 2011," Measure said. "This year the Council will be working with the Bonneville Power Administration and the region’s electric utilities to implement the aggressive energy efficiency in the Sixth Northwest Power Plan, which we approved in 2010. We also are reviewing projects funded by Bonneville through our fish and wildlife program to ensure they are performing as intended, and we are beginning to focus Council attention on the future of the Columbia River Treaty with Canada. It will be a challenging, exciting year for the Council."

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer appointed Measure to the Council in January 2005. He chairs the Fish Passage Center Oversight Board and has been active on behalf of Montana in settlement negotiations regarding Federal Columbia River Power System biological opinions on protecting salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and white sturgeon in the Kootenai River. He has been a practicing attorney since 1988 and currently is of counsel to the Measure Law Office in Kalispell, Montana. Measure was a member of the Montana House of Representatives from 1991 to 1993 and also served as President of the Board of Trustees of the Flathead Electric Cooperative until his resignation in December 2004 to join the Council. He holds an undergraduate degree in political science and a law degree, both from the University of Montana.

Dick Wallace was appointed to the Council in February 2008 by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire. Wallace, a former regional director with the Washington Department of Ecology, has more than 25 years of experience in natural resource issues, including water and watershed management, agriculture, forestry, storm water, and salmon recovery. A native of Montana, Wallace graduated from Whitman College with a bachelor of arts degree in biology and environmental studies.

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a program to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply.