SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday granted a stay in litigation seeking to save endangered salmon runs on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Portland granted a request by both sides in the lawsuit seeking the stay until July 31, 2022, so they can try to negotiate a settlement in the lawsuit.

Fishing and conservation groups joined with the state of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Biden administration to seek the pause in litigation challenging the latest federal plan for hydropower operations on the Snake and Columbia rivers that are blame...