Keith Wolf, working with the City’s legal counsel from Preston, Gates and Ellis, conducted a comprehensive assessment of Endangered Species Act liability issues. Keith led members of the City of Yakima in immediate discussions relative to its programs, policies, operations and activities as they related to possible interactions with the ESA and/or other natural resource programs or laws. We conducted a series of “white board” meetings to order to elicit information from select City departments, supervisors, the City Council and Mayor and employees, and evaluated this information in subsequent discussions relative to response priorities and opportunities. We initiated a second phase to begin in August 2001 to initiate a strategic planning and response elements to mitigate for any potential ESA legal issues.

Keith Wolf provided service to the City of Renton’s ESA Task Force and City staff to build positive and proactive responses to ESA. This required extensive knowledge of the regulatory elements and development initiatives, the local biology, habitat ecology, streams, wetlands, hydrology, City programs, policies, and overall watershed processes in the region. This collaborative and inclusive approach resulted in a sound ten-year work plan to gather the necessary information and data to identify, develop, and implement, defensible and consistent solutions.

In conjunction with the staff at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA., staff under Keith Wolf’s direction also conducted a multi-year research study into the contemporary effects of hydroelectric operations on juvenile anadromous and resident fish species in the Hanford Reach. The science group developed statistical and computer modeled results for presentation, peer review and management purposes. ​ This effort was supported by field studies and aided by satellite imagery, 2D unsteady flow modeling and mapping to determine the extent of fish stranding caused by hydropower peaking or load following operational regimes. The resulting Hanford Reach Fish Stranding Settlement resulted in codified updates to the 1988 Vernita Bar Agreement. This agreement, and its fish and wildlife mitigation actions, have been incorporated into subsequent FERC relicensing applications for all five mid-Columbia mainstem projects.

As a chief negotiator, Keith Wolf lead a multiple state, federal agency, and tribal policy team to achieve and implement interim and long-term modifications to hydroelectric operations for the Priest Rapids (and Wanapum) hydroelectric projects FERC relicensing to reduce fish mortality by over 11 million juvenile fall Chinook annually. ​ To address the impacts of flow fluctuations on Hanford Reach salmon and to improve coordination of river and dam operations, in October 1979 the three mid-Columbia PUDs completed an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses the five PUD dams, regarding outflows from dams upstream of Priest Rapids to benefit Hanford Reach juvenile salmon and steelhead when they migrate to the ocean. ​ The agreement, known as the Mid-Columbia Proceeding (FERC Docket No. E-9569), resulted from a complaint that was filed in 1976 2 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the Washington Department of Fisheries. ​

Keith and his staff were lead authors for all three of these fish and wildlife management and strategic funding plans contracted by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The plans identified priority restoration and protection strategies for habitat and fish and wildlife populations in United States portion of the Columbia River system and guide the implementation of the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and directs more than $640 million per year of Bonneville electricity revenues to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the federal hydropower system. ​ This effort resulted in separate plans for 58 tributary watersheds or mainstem segments of the Columbia River and were developed collaboratively by state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes, local planning groups, fish recovery boards, and Canadian entities. ​

Keith was a lead author of the adopted plan and served as a staff and board member for the Upper Columbia River Salmon Recovery Board from its inception in 1999 through 2014. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) planning process began with identification of priority species—spring Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout—based on ESA listings and population status (abundance, productivity, spatial structure, and diversity). Empirical information and ecosystem modeling were used to determine current population status and threats. Limiting factors were then identified from the threats (both past and present) as well as corrective actions used to file the final plan in the federal register. ​ The Plan emphasizes recovery of three spring Chinook populations (Wenatchee, Entiat, and Methow populations), four steelhead populations (Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, and Okanogan populations), and recovery of bull trout within the Wenatchee, Entiat, and Methow subbasins. The Plan was adopted and implemented by NOAA in 2009 and secured over 190 million dollars in initial federal funding support. ​

Dr. Keith Wolf led an expert peer-review team supported by the American Fisheries Society and the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians to examine methods, specific data collections and the statistical derived results and conclusions of a federal science team in support of the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion. Expert testimony was prepared by this team for the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission in support of Judge Redden in U.S. v. nine plaintiffs. Adjudication processes for the FCRPS NOAA Biological “No Jeopardy” Determination. Case No. 223435 – 0098. Outcomes for this, and other studies, resulted in development and implementation of the Federal Action Agencies’ 2008-2018 FCRPS Adaptive Management Implementation Plan. This plan is incorporated into all Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s subsequent (e.g., Sixth and Seventh) Regional Power Plans.