11 



2 

 extinct, and three other anadromous species are listed under the Endangered Species 

 Act. Preservation of the species, not mere restoration, is the immediate challenge. 



Listing of the Snake River runs under the Endangered Species Act further 

 complicates recovery because it involves additional federal agencies such as the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, which is charged with administering the act. In 

 Idaho the two biggest landowners, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 

 Management, must deal with Section Seven mandates to ensure that activities on their 

 land do not jeopardize the continued existence of the salmon. This mandate has added 

 new layers of review and has forced these agencies to apply their resources to reviews 

 of proposed activities. The result has been delay in timber sales, grazing operations, 

 and other activities. 



Other states are facing the same complications, proving that the listing of the 

 salmon is a regional issue, not just an issue in Idaho. The solution must be regional 

 in scope, not just local. 



Idaho's position is that, while it is all well and good to consider the impacts of 

 these activities on the salmon, it takes attention away from the real problem ~ the 

 slaughter of juvenile salmon in the dams and the slack water reservoirs that create a 

 chain of lakes stretching from the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers in 

 Idaho all the way to Bonneville Dam. 



The road that leads to this hearing is one well-paved with plans to protect and 

 restore the fisheries in the Snake and Columbia rivers. Unfortunately, plans and 

 intentions do not produce results. 



A basic premise in federal law is that anadromous fish will be protected. It can 

 be found in the laws that authorized the Corps of Engineers' dams, funded the 

 numerous hatcheries, created the Northwest Power Act's fish and wildlife provisions, 

 and led to federal wilderness designations. 



Thirteen years ago, the Northwest Power Act held the promise of anadromous 

 fish restoration. A pending Endangered Species Act petition was shelved in deference 

 to the Northwest Power Planning Council and new authorities for BPA. Today's 

 Endangered Species Act listings in the Snake River, and the petition of upper 



