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ENCLOSURE II ENCLOSURE II 



ENDANGERED SPECIES 



BACKGROUND 



Hydropower facilities In the Columbia River Basin have 

 contributed to an estimated 80 -percent decline In the nuoibers of 

 salmon and steelhead trout that migrate to the ocean as young fish 

 and return as adults to spawn. Dams have been built by the 

 Department of the Interior's Bureau of Recleunatlon (Bureau), the 

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), or public utility districts. 



The Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation 

 Act, enacted In 1980, established the Pacific Northwest Electric 

 Power and Conservation Planning Council (Council) and directed it 

 to develop a program for enhancing, mitigating, and protecting fish 

 and wildlife affected by the Columbia River Basin power-generating 

 facilities. The Council's program was first adopted in 1982 and 

 was revised in 1984 to include a 5-year action plan that put 

 primary emphasis on enhancing fish resources. The action plan also 

 included measures for protecting and enhancing the habitat of the 

 basin's nonmigratory fish and wildlife. 



The Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (NMFS) listed the Snake River sockeye salmon as an endangered 

 species in 1991 and the Snake River fall Chinook salmon and 

 spring/summer Chinook salmon as threatened species in 1992. 



GAP WORK 



In 1984, we reviewed the Council's compliance with the act's 

 requirement to develop a fish and wildlife prograun and found that 

 the Council had developed a program according to the procedures and 

 standards specified in the act. In 1987, we again reviewed the 

 Council's program and found that the Bonneville Power 

 Administration (EPA) and other responsible agencies appeared to be 

 making progress in carrying out the Council's program. BPA and the 

 Corps have responsibility for implementing roughly one-half of the 

 action items Included in the program, and, as of 1985, BPA and the 

 Corps had spent more than $100 million on implementing these items. 

 All expenditures for the progreun are funded by BPA through its 

 power sales revenues. We noted, however, that it was too early to 

 determine the success of the overall progreun in protecting and 

 restoring the region's fish and wildlife resources. We also noted 

 that both the Council and BPA had Instituted programs to Inform the 

 public of, and elicit their views on, plans and activities related 

 to fish and wildlife prograuns. 



In 1990, we examined the efforts made by the Corps to 

 determine the most effective method for assisting fish migration 

 past certain Columbia and Snake River dams. We found that the 



7 GAO/RCED-93-133R, GAO Products on Bonneville Power Adainistratioa 



