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http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/10/climate_change_will_require_fl.html

No surprise: Salmon most expensive endangered species

By Matthew Preusch, The Oregonian

October 14, 2009

Steven Nehl/The OregonianVisitors watch Chinook salmon swim through the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam in 2005.

Chinook, also called king salmon, received the most taxpayer money for recovery in 2007, according to a new report.Scientific American has the story on a federal report tallying the costs of recovering wildlife listed as threatened and endangered.

And salmon species are by far the most expensive.

Chinook, or king, salmon received more than $165 million, while chum, coho and sockeye netted another $78 million in total spending for 2007, Scientific American said.

The total spent in 2007 by federal and state governments on conservation and habitat protection was more than $1.6 billion.

Last month, The Oregonian reported that the total spent on the 13 salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia Basin since 1978 exceeds $12 billion.