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NATIVE AUUtCAN Af FAlflS 



SBasttngton. SC 20515-2601 



April 28, 1993 



Mr. George Eskridge 

 Montana District Manager 

 800 Kensington 

 Missoula, Montana 59801 



Dear George 



Thank you for coming to Northwest Montana to hear the 

 concerns of my constituents about the lake and about Bonneville's 

 operations. 



I know this is a difficult time for BPA, and that you have 

 an extraordinary set of circumstances within which to operate the 

 power system this year. Between the drought, efforts to maintain 

 northwest fisheries, and the need to purchase additional power, 

 Bonneville would seem to be very close to the rock and the hard 

 place. 



As you know, today is the first hearing of the U.S. Congress 

 task force on the BPA. This task force has been formed for the 

 purpose of both reviewing BPA's water and power programs, and to 

 begin the discussion about what we want Bonneville to look like 

 in ten or twenty years. As the custodians of much of the 

 region's water storage capacity, we Montanans have very serious 

 concerns about how this water is used, and about the cost to 

 Montana's fish, wildlife, and recreation of policies benefitting 

 these same resources downstream. 



I'm committed to work through the task force to resolve some 

 of the following issues, and I'm willing to work with the 

 residents of this county and the state on other issues of concern 

 as well. 



From our top state officials at the Power Planning Council, 

 to the marina operators and fishermen on Lake Koocanusa, 

 Montanans are weary of the drawdown process. We Montanans 

 deserve a full accounting of why our reservoirs are drawn to such 

 low levels that our fisheries cannot thrive, residents and 

 visitors can't get their boats in the lake, and the Tobacco 

 Valley is choked in dust. 



