[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 6 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S676-S678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 200. A bill to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a 
portion of the Columbia River as a recreational river, and for other 
purposes;

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to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


        the columbia river hanford reach protection act of 1997

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that, in 
one act, will do more to protect and restore the threatened salmon runs 
on the Columbia River than anything else this Government has tried. 
This bill will designate the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia 
River, the Hanford Reach, as a recreational river under the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act.
  The bill I introduce today, with Senator Ron Wyden, is identical to 
S. 1489, my bill from the 104th Congress. That bill was developed with 
a broad spectrum of local interests who worked for months to create a 
bill with widespread support. While the 104th Congress did not take 
action on this bill, I feel confident that my colleagues of the 105th 
Congress will see the tremendous economic and environmental benefits of 
designating the reach a wild and scenic river and will help me pass 
this important legislation.
  Much has happened in the year since I introduced S. 1489. Most 
important, the scientific community has verified what many locals 
already knew: The Hanford Reach will make an enormous contribution to 
salmon recovery on this embattled river. The Independent Scientific 
Group [ISG], an expert panel of fisheries scientists, reviewed the full 
range of salmon recovery programs now in place on the Columbia River. 
The ISG concluded that the Hanford Reach will be critical to our 
efforts to recover salmon throughout the Columbia Basin. It suggested 
that chinook salmon from the reach may serve as a core population from 
which adults could stray to upstream and downstream tributaries and, 
given good conditions, may reestablish lost or declining runs.
  In this last year, we have fostered a growing consensus that the 
reach is too precious to risk harming. The Governors of the three 
States of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska recommended protection for the 
reach, citing it as critical to maintaining healthy stocks of salmon 
vital to sustaining the region's fishing economy. The Northwest Power 
Planning Council has endorsed designation of the reach as a wild and 
scenic river. Likewise, a number of tribal governments have supported 
continuing Federal protection of the Reach. Many other wildlife and 
conservation groups, including Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, 
American Rivers, and the Audubon Society have recognized the importance 
of this stretch of the Columbia and have joined the effort to save it. 
Finally, newspapers in Seattle, Portland, Yakima, and elsewhere have 
endorsed wild and scenic designation.
  Let me remind my colleagues of the splendors of this 50-mile section 
of the river. While most of the Columbia River Basin was being 
developed for agriculture, hydroelectricity, and other economic 
activities, the Hanford Reach and other buffer lands within the Hanford 
Nuclear Reservation were kept pristine. Ironically, it was the veil of 
secrecy and security surrounding the Manhattan project that 
simultaneously protected the now scarce shrub-steppe ecosystem and 
created tremendous nuclear and chemical contamination. Fortunately, the 
arid land, the river's tremendous volume, and new cleanup and 
restoration technology has minimized the harm done to this vital river.
  And vital it is. Its free-flowing nature provides superb habitat that 
produces 80 percent of the Columbia Basin's fall chinook salmon, as 
well as thriving runs of steelhead trout and sturgeon. It is the only 
truly healthy segment of the mainstem of the Columbia River. As the 
Pacific Northwest is struggling to restore declining salmon runs--and 
spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to do so--protecting 
the Hanford Reach is the most cost-effective step we can take since it 
is already federally owned.
  The reach is also rich in other natural and cultural resources. Bald 
eagles, wintering and migrating waterfowl, deer, elk, and a diversity 
of other wildlife depend on the reach. It contains dozens of rare, 
threatened, and endangered plants and animals. Biologists have 
identified several new plant species that they believe are unique and 
found only on lands near the reach.
  This part of the Columbia Basin is also of great importance to native 
Americans, who have lived along the shores and islands of the reach for 
millennia. There are over 150 archaeological sites along the Hanford 
Reach, some dating back more than 10,000 years. The reach's naturally 
spawning salmon remain a vital part of the modern culture and religion 
of native Americans in the area.
  Another area of importance within the reach is the White Bluffs. 
These fragile cliffs offer dramatic scenery, unique habitat, and 
fascinating geologic history. Unfortunately, a downstream section of 
the bluffs has been impacted by irrigation water flowing through the 
unstable Ringold formation sediments causing it to slide into the 
river, smothering spawning beds, reducing water quality, and deflecting 
the course of the river. Should these slumps continue or migrate 
upstream, some scientists fear the river could become contaminated when 
it is pushed onto the nuclear reactors lining its south shore. Wild and 
scenic river designation might help prevent such catastrophes.
  The reach also provides an abundance of recreational opportunities. 
It is very close to the tri-cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, 
WA, and several hours drive from the major urban centers of Seattle and 
Portland. It affords residents and visitors opportunities to hunt, 
boat, fish, hike, kayak, water ski, bird watch, or simply relax and 
enjoy the solitude. The reach adds tremendously to the quality of 
life--and economy--of the area.
  It is because of the reach's importance to the local residents and 
economy that I convened a diverse group of area citizens in 1995 to 
develop this bill that I reintroduce today. This Hanford Reach Advisory 
Panel had a wide array of interests and concerns that we addressed in 
this bill. For example, there was a concern about the potential impact 
a wild and scenic river designation could have on the traditional uses 
of the water and nearby lands. So, the panel incorporated specific 
language to protect current economic activities, such as agriculture, 
power generation and transmission, and water withdrawals. This bill 
excludes the 3 percent of private property recommended in the National 
Park Service's Record of Decision in order to honor the request of 
those private land owners. The legislation also guarantees that local 
government and interests have a formal role in the management of the 
river corridor, which will come under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service.
  In addition, this bill includes the advisory panel's recommendation 
that the Secretary of the Interior and relevant Federal agencies work 
with local and State sponsors to develop a program of education and 
interpretation related to the Hanford Reach. The city of Richland and 
area tribes, among others, have been working with the Department of 
Energy on a museum and regional visitor center proposal and are eager 
to make the natural and human history of the reach part of the project.
  This legislation includes provisions urged by the advisory panel to 
improve the habitat value, access, and appearance of the Columbia River 
shoreline in the tri-cities' area. Much of the rivershore is now lined 
with high, steep levees that were put in place before the network of 
dams controlled the flow of the river and reduced the need for such 
flood control structures. This bill directs the Army Corps of 
Engineers, which built, owns, and maintains the levees, to coordinate 
with local sponsors on demonstration projects to restore the 
rivershore. The bill directs the corps to undertake some small levee 
modification projects in partnership with Kennewick, Pasco, and the 
Port of Kennewick in the short-term. For the longer term, the corps is 
directed to undertake a comprehensive study of the levees and determine 
if rivershore restoration is feasible and should become a Federal 
priority.
  Mr. President, let me conclude by again thanking my Hanford Reach 
Advisory Panel and reiterating to my colleagues the importance of 
protection of the Hanford Reach. The reach is the last free-flowing 
section of the mighty Columbia and as such produces outstanding salmon 
habitat, superb recreational opportunities, and vital economic 
benefits. I urge my colleagues to take speedy action, pass this 
important bill and permanently protect the Hanford Reach as a wild and 
scenic river.

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