[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 116-117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SALMON RECOVERY

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, today, as you may know, Jim Connaughton, 
chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, called 
for a comprehensive and collaborative approach to salmon recovery in 
the Pacific Northwest. While I may not agree completely with Chairman 
Connaugh-
ton's statement, we must stop ignoring what is going on. It is about 
time that someone speaks out about the reality of the situation in the 
Northwest in regards to salmon recovery. He proposed to end outdated 
hatchery programs and to stop harvest levels and practices that impede 
recovery of salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act, ESA. He 
also outlined a comprehensive collaborative process to promote a shared 
goal and responsibility of salmon recovery. As early as next week, the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service, 
NOAA Fisheries, will launch a collaborative review of how harvest and 
hatcheries are affecting the recovery of ESA-listed salmon and 
steelhead.
  There has been no clear direction in the past, and CEQ is taking the 
first step to provide a meaningful direction. We have sat back and idly 
watched while the region moved from injunction to injunction and 
lawsuit to lawsuit. In fact, over the past 2 years, two injunctions 
have been ordered and more lawsuits are being filed. This situation 
just fosters mistrust and the inability to meet common goals and 
objectives.
  Our past practices have focused on keeping the fish in the river and 
in abundant numbers so that we can have our cake and eat it, too. In no 
other place in the world do we treat an ESA-listed species this way. We 
don't raise bald eagles only to use their feathers for our clothes, so 
why do we spend hundreds of millions of dollars--each year--to recover 
the species, and then allow a majority of them to be killed through 
harvesting? The people who pay for these absurd practices are the 
Northwest ratepayers.
  Here are some facts that the region should know. The total cost of 
fish mitigation in the Northwest from 1978 to 2005 has been 
approximately $7 billion. Fish costs now make up to 30 percent of the 
Bonneville Power Administration's power rates, 30 cents of every dollar 
paid for BPA-managed power. Snake River Fall Chinook are the most 
impacted ESA-listed species in the Columbia River system. These fish 
drive

[[Page 117]]

BPA's fish and wildlife program. Approximately 40 percent to 60 percent 
of this species is harvested.
  Last summer, Judge Redden ordered a change in river operations that 
resulted in an approximately $75 million dollar hit to the region's 
ratepayers. This means that depending on how many fish survive, summer 
spill costs between $225,000 and $3 million per fish, and consequently, 
ratepayers are left with the bill. Even at $225,000 per fish, that is a 
lot of money. Judge Redden, once again, second-guessed the region's 
fish managers and made the decision to increase spill this spring and 
summer. This will result in another cost to the ratepayers of 
approximately $60 million dollars.
  Management of the river by the courts is not management at all. I 
would like to help the management agencies--the appropriate managers of 
the river system--to succeed in their efforts to manage the river, in 
partnership with local, State, and tribal governments.
  Why not trust the experts who have the scientific knowledge to make 
those decisions and help empower the region to work together instead of 
giving up and having the court systems make management decisions? How 
are we to succeed in the future if we keep allowing others to make our 
decisions for us?
  When will this silliness stop? When will the region take ownership 
and responsibility for the river? And when will we work together as a 
region and get serious about salmon recovery? CEQ made the first step 
today.
  I will work with other Members of Congress to finally face these 
challenges and to help provide direction and be more accountable to the 
public and to recovery of the species. If we are serious about 
recovery, we need to start acting serious and not avoid the tough 
questions.
  I would like to challenge my colleagues to come together in a 
bipartisan way to help the region get back on track.

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