supplies which is why watershed management is so complicated, 

 why people have tended to either ignore it or put on blinders and 

 focus on an easy answer, and why we have come up short in our 

 current efforts to fix what is wrong with our nation's rivers and 

 streams. We cannot simply focus on the ultimate effects. We have 

 to deal with the multitude of causes. We cannot just look at the 

 water in the river. We have to look beyond the river's banks, and 

 we cannot just grow more fish, especially fat and dumb fish, be- 

 cause that doesn't fix the water quality or habitat problems that 

 killed the first fish. 



These issues are why we are here today. We have two distin- 

 guished panels of witnesses to explain what it is we mean when we 

 speak of watersheds and to explain why they are so critically im- 

 portant. To help us understand the problems, we will look at the 

 rivers of the Pacific Northwest as a timely case study of the decline 

 of rivers nationwide. According to the American Fisheries Society, 

 these rivers have lost over 100 salmon populations, and an addi- 

 tional 210 are at risk of extinction. 



The Columbia River system has gone from one of the most prolif- 

 ic salmon rivers in the world, producing historic highs of 10 to 16 

 million fish annually, to a river that now supports less than three 

 million fish. 



Clearly, we need a new approach to protect our river ecosystems 

 and fish populations from further degradation. Watershed manage- 

 ment may be the answer, and our witnesses today will hopefully 

 provide the scientific foundation to coordinate habitat restoration 

 and hatchery practices in a watershed context to support the even- 

 tual return of healthy riverine ecosystems not only to the Pacific 

 Northwest but to the entire nation. 



This is the first of a series of hearings on the issue of watershed 

 management with the later hearings to focus more sharply on the 

 role of watershed management as a complement to our current reg- 

 ulatory programs to protect water quality and water supplies. 



Mr. Studds. I particularly want to acknowledge the interest of 

 our distinguished members from the Pacific Northwest to say noth- 

 ing of the Gulf Southeast over there, and I don't know — maybe it is 

 people who work where we do have a particular affinity for critters 

 who spend most of their energy trying to swim upstream. That is 

 very naturally and instinctively understood on our part. I also 

 want to thank, I gather, the gentlewoman from Washington who 

 may have to replace me as I swim further upstream later in the 

 hearings. Are there opening statements? The gentlewoman from 

 Washington. 



STATEMENT OF HON. JOLENE UNSOELD, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 



FROM WASHINGTON 



Mrs. Unsoeld. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you have indicated, 

 the Pacific Northwest — long recognized for its wealth of natural re- 

 sources — is fast becoming known for its ongoing controversies over 

 how to manage them. And years of mismanagement have left our 

 forests and fisheries in shambles and our resource-dependent com- 

 munities in severe financial hardship. 



