not afford to study the salmon into extinction. We have to act pru- 

 dently, but quickly. 



Frankly, I do not feel qualified to be the judge of which measures 

 are more or less appropriate or even whether this plan will be ade- 

 quate to rebuild the Columbia basin's salmon stocks — that is why 

 we have a Council and a host of Federal, State and tribal experts. 



But to the extent that the Coimcil's program provides a sufficient 

 ft-amework for salmon recovery efforts, my interest is in seeing that 

 it is implemented in a timely and thorough fashion. 



One common theme that emerges from my conversations is that 

 there is not enough coordination between Federal, State, tribal and 

 private entities in the Northwest. There are too many planning 

 processes and jurisdictions, and no single arena in which all inter- 

 ests and all parties can take part, 



Salmon recovery in the Columbia basin will require a degree of 

 regional, national and international cooperation that is virtually 

 imprecedented. I have asked witnesses at this hearing to comment 

 on the existing institutions and their ability to implement a com- 

 prehensive salmon recovery strategy. I have asked for specific sug- 

 gestions for improvements in the region's institutional arrange- 

 ments that would better serve the Northwest and the Nation. 



But the bottom line is that rebuilding the Columbia River's salm- 

 on runs is not discretionary. It is required by law. And in any case, 

 it is in the Northwest's long-term economic and cultural interests 

 to protect this precious resource. 



We have not yet reached the degree of polarization and deadlock 

 that characterizes the debate over forest management in the North- 

 west. I pray that we never will. It is my hope that this task force 

 can help to encourage a more coordinated and thorough effort to re- 

 build the Columbia River's once magnificent salmon runs. 



With that, we will move to the first witness, the Honorable Larry 

 EchoHawk, Attorney General, State of Idaho. 



STATEMENT OF LARRY ECHOHAWK, ATTORNEY GENERAL, 

 STATE OF mAHO 



Mr. EchoHawk. Mr. Chairman, Congressman LaRocco, I appre- 

 ciate the opportimity to present testimony on behalf of the State 

 of Idaho at this hearing this morning. 



Governor Andrus has submitted a nine-page written statement 

 and I would like to add to that on behalf of the State some verbal 

 comments this morning. I must say that I have got a time frame 

 that I have to meet myself. I need to be at Boise State University 

 at 8:30, but I will have the Governor's special assistant, Andy 

 Brunnell, on natural resources issues and a special deputy fi-om my 

 office available to answer questions that the Congressmen may 

 have. 



The contemporary philosopher Will Durant once wrote that civili- 

 zation is a stream with banks and that the story of civilization is 

 what happened on the banks. 



Unfortimately, the story being written on the banks of the Co- 

 lumbia River at the present is one of federal agency foot dragging 

 and neglect of one of the Nation's most valuable resources, its mag- 

 nificent salmon. The ending of the story is clear — extinction of 



