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be slow, but success over the long tenn may depend on the region's willingness to take these 

 steps. 



Strengths of the Strategy for Salmon 



With the Snake River endangered species listings, it became clear that a program to 

 improve salmon survival should take a broad view, one that involves and seeks improvements 

 in all river uses: power production, flood control, agricultiue, navigation, water supply, 

 recreation, land development practices and fishing. When the Northwest Governors, 

 Congressional delegation and the National Marine Fisheries Service looked to the Council to 

 come up with a comprehensive recovery plan, they also asked the Council to assume this 

 broader role. In response the Council developed an integrated plan that seeks contributions 

 from all river users and land managers. The Council adopts an ecosystem approach in the 

 salmon strategy, aiming actions at all impacts on salmon survival and providing the 

 mechanisms, discussed above, to evaluate this approach. 



Weaknesses of the Strategy for Salmon 



While you will undoubtedly hear from others who believe the strategy is weak in one 

 regard or another, I would like to point out two weaknesses that concern the Council. First, 

 we are concerned about fragmented implementation of the strategy. The strategy attempts to 

 strike a balance in funding of the measures, assigning to ratepayers the share that accounts 

 for damage caused by the hydropower system and other costs to appropriate state and federal 

 agencies and river users. Bonneville originally told the Council it has not been able to fully 

 implement its share of the program, citing its current fmancial difficulties that resulted from 

 drought and reduced income from power sales. I will discuss this point further in response to 

 question 5. Appropriations to the other federal agencies are critical. This year Congress 

 directed about $100 million — much of this will be repaid by Bonneville ratepayers - to the 

 salmon recovery effort. Bonneville funding is not the only problem. Many parties have been 

 either unwilling or unable to fully fund their share of implementation. 



The Council's statutory authority is limited. We must rely on the cooperation of 

 federal, state and tribal agencies to implement the program, and this cooperation has been 

 difficult. Too many see our program as merely a list of actions ~ a menu -- from which to 

 pick and choose for selective implementation. The Council is attempting to resolve these 

 problems through rigorous monitoring and evaluation and by bringing together parties to the 

 disputes. This process has led to resolution of disputes regarding flows, harvest rates and 

 hatcheiy policies. I will discuss this issue in more detail in response to question 4. 

 However, the difficulty in achieving fiill and timely implementation of our strategy remains. 



Second, some measiues in the Strategy for Salmon are based on science that is 

 continuing to develop. However, the Council recognizes that the region cannot expect 



