The Bureau of Reclamation has selected a new Tribal Liaison Officer for the Pacific Northwest to represent Reclamation in working directly with the Tribes and other partners in implementing new agreements and related interagency programs benefitting Columbia River Basin fish stocks, effective September 2, 2008.

Ron Eggers, who presently serves as the area manager for Reclamation's Lower Columbia Area Office based in Portland, Ore., will take on this challenging program and also serve as a point of contact between the regional Tribal interests and the Commissioners Office of Native American and International Affairs.

"Rons technical background and varied career experience make him ideally suited to be the Regional Tribal Liaison," said Bill McDonald, Reclamation's Pacific Northwest Regional Director. "In particular, there is an immediate need to move forward with the Tribes who joined with us in signing the historic Columbia Basin Fish Accords and to build on the partnerships which were developed in the course of negotiating the Accords.

The Accords provide for 10-year commitments by the Federal agencies for actions which will benefit fish, particularly Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead stocks. The Accords signal the development of an historic regional partnership between the Federal agencies and the Tribes and States, and are integral to addressing the recovery of ESA listed fish species in accordance with the new biological opinions on the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) and Reclamations Upper Snake River Basin projects.

Eggers has a degree in fisheries biology, and started his career as a fishery biologist with the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) in the 1980s. He subsequently was on the Northwest Power and Conservation Councils staff and also served with the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the Fisheries Program Administrator for their Northwest Region.

Prior to becoming the LCAO Area Manager, where he has had extensive experience with the Endangered Species Act, he was the special assistant to the regional director for Native American Affairs in Reclamations Great Plains Region. Jerry Kelso, Area Manager of the Upper Columbia Area Office in Yakima, Wash., will temporarily assume the management and oversight of the LCAO. Kelso will divide his time between the Portland and Yakima offices.