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Under Section 4(h) of the Northwest Power Act, the Council is given broad authority 

 to develop fish and wildlife measures for implementation by Bonneville and other federal 

 agencies that are "... responsible for managing, operating or regulating federal or non-federal 

 hydroelectric facilities located on the Columbia River and its tributahes." This authority is 

 not comprehensive, and the Council has no defined statutory role in actions that are within 

 the jurisdiction of states or the Indian tribes. 



While the Council can develop a comprehensive program, it can implement it only 

 with broad cooperation. The Council can guide, but not command, federal river management 

 and licensing. The investment of Bonneville hydropower revenues to help fish and wildlife 

 must be "consistent" with the Council's program, but Bonneville actually writes the checks. 

 The Council has no legal authority over hatcheries, habitat management or water rights. In 

 addition, not all federal agencies that implement our program are covered by the Northwest 

 Power Act — for example, those responsible for hatchery management, harvest or habitat 

 protection and restoration. 



One factor that limits the success of salmon recovery efforts is the dispersion of 

 authority among federal and state agencies in the Columbia River Basin. The Council 

 provides the forum for developing the program, but increased coordination and oversight 

 would help implementation of the program. 



The Endangered Species Act listings create new incentives to make this arrangement 

 woric. Positive momentum toward species recovery is absolutely essential if severe 

 disruption in the region's largest fishery, power plant, navigation channel, and source of 

 irrigation water is to be avoided. Genuine recovery requires a strong commitment to 

 coordinated, scientifically based action. 



The Council believes that there is a pressing need to implement an effective 

 monitoring and evaluation program to ensure that these objectives are achieved. A 

 monitoring and evaluation program should enable us to monitor the status of fish 

 populations, track agency performance in implementing recovery measures, and develop a 

 series of benchmarks with which to evaluate progress toward recovery. Developing such a 

 program in this pluralistic setting will require commitments from a wide range of parties, and 

 help from Congress may be needed. 



4. Budget and staffing constraints at federal and state fish and wildlife agencies, and 

 Bonneville, have slowed implementation of the Strategy for Salmon, but the Council 

 also recognizes that the implementation schedule is ambitious. 



