LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - Environmental groups that want Idaho to close steelhead fishing to protect wild steelhead have filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue.
The Lewiston Tribune reports in a story on Thursday that Idaho Rivers United, Friends of the Clearwater and others filed the notice.
The groups say fishing for hatchery steelhead leads to the incidental killing of some wild steelhead that are protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The groups say Idaho's plan for avoiding harm to protected fish has expired. The number of steelhead returning to the Snake River basin is down for the second year in a row.
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are named in the notice.
Idaho Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore declined to comment.
