03:26 PM PDT on Friday, April 28, 2006

Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- PacifiCorp wants to use a less expensive system of trucks and traps to haul salmon around dams on the Klamath River rather than spend $200 million on fish ladders and screen turbines.

AP photo

PacifiCorp told the federal government Friday April 28, 2006, it would rather use a less expensive system of trucks and traps to haul salmon around dams on the Klamath River, including this J.C. Boyle dam in Klamath Falls, than spend $200 million to build fish ladders and turbine screens.

At least until the company sees whether the fish can survive in waters they haven't lived in in nearly a century.

That's what PacifiCorp, which serves 1.6 million customers in Oregon, California, Washington, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, told federal officials.

 It has filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. regarding the fish ladders.

 Federal agencies have suggested that the utility, which is based in Portland, build miles of fish ladders and install turbine screens to restore salmon to 300 miles of spawning habitat blocked by the dams since 1918.