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ensure that the recovery plan does not create confusion or delay full implementation of the 

 salmon strategy. 



The Council firmly believes that a regionwide cooperative effort is clearly preferable 

 to federal or legal intervention that could lead to extensive and expensive conflict, litigation 

 and economic disruption. 



The key now is implementation. We welcome this committee's oversight of the 

 activities of federal agencies and others to implement the Strategy for Sainton. We will keep 

 Congress informed about implementation through monthly reports. 



Responses to Chairman DeFazio's questions 



1. The Council's Strategy for Salmon is an appropriate and sufiBcient frameworii for 

 saloMMi recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin. 



To be effective, any fish and wildlife program must be more than a collection of 

 measures. Individual efforts must be coordinated and measures integrated into an overall 

 plan designed to achieve specific goals and objectives. 



To achieve this coordination, the Strategy for Salmon does three things: First, the 

 program is focused and organized around a framework, which consists of an overall goal of 

 doubling salmon runs without loss of biological diversity. In the framework, the strategy 

 establishes interim rebuilding targets for naturally spawning Snake River salmon. These 

 numbere are: 1) 50,000 spring chinook; 2) 20,000 summer chinook; 3)1,000 fall chinook. 

 Second, the sahnon strategy establishes a coordinated process in which implementing 

 agencies can implement program measures in a logical way. Third, reflecting the Council's 

 long-standing commitment to adaptive management, the program establishes a process to 

 monitor and evaluate program implementation in a way that adds systematically to the 

 region's knowledge of salmon and steelhead recovery. 



An effective salmon program also must rely on the best available scientific 

 knowledge. The Northwest Power Act requires the Council to develop its fish and wildlife 

 program from recommendations from fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes and interested 

 citizens. The Council also is required to select those recommendations that are based on the 

 best available scientific knowledge. However, this is difficult and sometimes contentious 

 because scientific knowledge in certain key areas is not well developed. 



Finally, because scientific knowledge constantly is changing and many salmon issues 

 are uncertain, the salmon strategy calb on the region to monitor actions and make 

 adjustments where advisable. Monitoring and evaluation may be expensive, and results may 



