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3 



Columbia River summer chinook, clearly indicate a failure of the federal agencies to 

 deliver results. 



Take, for example, the case of the chinook salmon of the Middle Fork of the 

 Salmon River in central Idaho. The 28,000-square-mile Middle Fork of the Salmon 

 River back country, an area containing the most pristine salmon habitat in the lower 

 48 states, was designated as wilderness by Congress in 1980. Yet the local spring and 

 summer chinook populations have declined at the same rate as Snake River 

 populations that are exposed to spawning habitat degradation. Habitat is not the cause 

 of decline. 



While harvest remains a problem for fall chinook, the harvest of sockeye, 

 spring and summer chinook was reduced or nearly eliminated by fishery managers in 

 the 1970s. Still the decline continues. Harvest is not the cause of decline. 



Hatcheries are often cited as a major problem. There are no hatcheries in the 

 Middle Fork drainage for either resident or anadromous fish. This water is populated 

 with only wild stocks. Hatcheries are not the issue. 



The precarious state of the Middle Fork Salmon populations demonstrates that 

 the primary cause of the decline is the federal hydropower projects. The problem is 

 one of a regional scope that must be addressed accordingly. The Middle Fork runs 

 are subject to juvenile mortality rate of 55-77 percent when migrating downstream 

 through the FCRPS and over 30-40 percent when returning as adults. 

 POWER COUNCIL'S STRATEGY 



Idaho believes that the Northwest Power Planning Council's Strategy for 

 Salmon , with prompt and full implementation, can be the first step to reverse decades 

 of neglect. It provides the underpinning for returning the Snake River salmon runs to 

 fishable levels. Full implementation, in Idaho's opinion, goes beyond short-term 

 measures for salmon. Long-range planning must take hold or the Strategy will 

 become just another plan to save the fish runs that was lost to agency intransigence. 



The strength of the Strategy for Salmon is its regional consensus; four states 

 were able to work out a plan that, if fully implemented, will lead to rebuilding the 

 salmon runs. The development of the plan was open and all interested parties were 



