5 



Mr. Studds. a gentleman who also knows something about that 

 direction of the river, the gentleman from Maryland. I apologize. I 

 didn't see you there. 



Mr. GiLCHREST. That is all right. I don't have any formal state- 

 ment, but I would like to ask unanimous consent that Mr. Fields's 

 text be entered into the record. 



Mr. Studds. Without objection. 



[Statement of Mr. Fields follows:] 



Statement of Hon. Jack Fields, a U.S. Representative from Texas, and 

 Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to join with you today in welcoming our witnesses 

 to consider the issue of watershed management and its relationship to water quality 

 and fish habitat. 



The Pacific Northwest is facing a regional ecological problem symbolized by the 

 wild salmon. Populations of salmon have been either driven to extinction or greatly 

 reduced, according to a recent study by the American Fisheries Society. Although 

 extinction is usually caused by a combination of factors, loss of habitat is critical 

 and is a major cause of the decline of North American fish. Many have focused on 

 dams as the root of the salmon problem in the Northwest, but other activities may 

 actually contribute to the decline of these species. Forest practices, including road 

 building, have been shown to cause riverine habitat damage, both on and off nation- 

 al forest lands. 



Our hearing today will allow testimony to be received concerning the manage- 

 ment of our forest lands and ways to improve water quality in rivers, which will 

 benefit fish and other species that habitat these areas. 



Mr. Chairman, I join you in welcoming our witnesses and look forward to review- 

 ing the testimony they will provide. Thank you. 



Mr. GiLCHREST. I also would like to just make a comment about — 

 I am from Maryland so I probably won't be able to stay the whole 

 time the testimony is being given, but I certainly represent a beau- 

 tiful area of the Chesapeake Bay and understand that if we are to 

 preserve the land and the water and our environment, then water- 

 shed management is the way to go, and I look forward to the testi- 

 mony. Thank you. 



Mr. Studds. I thank the gentleman. Members of the panel, we 

 will hear you as an entirety in the order in which your name ap- 

 pears. You should be warned if you haven't been: I gather you have 

 been requested to confine your oral presentation to no more than 

 five minutes. Your written testimony will appear in its entirety in 

 the record. We have a brutal Medieval scheme here. Those lights 

 will go on, and when the yellow light goes on, you have one minute 

 left, and when the red light goes on, you have completed your testi- 

 mony. No one has ever ventured to find out what happens if that is 

 not the case. We will start with Dr. Robert Naiman, Director for 

 the Center for Streamside Studies at the University of Washington. 

 Dr. Naiman. 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT J. NAIMAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR 

 STREAMSIDE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEAT- 

 TLE, WASHINGTON 



Mr. Naiman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Studds. You need to pull that microphone embarrassingly 

 close. 



Mr. Naiman. OK. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting 

 me to appear before 



