290 



HEARINGS BEFORE 

 THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

 COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES 



Testimony of the Columbia River Inter- 

 Tribal Fish Commission 

 September 24, 1993 

 Boise, Idaho 



Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. Thank you for the 

 opportunity to testify. I am Anthony Van Pelt. I am a member of the Umatilla Tribe's Fish and 

 Wildlife Committee and a member of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. In 

 1977, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the 

 Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Indian 

 Nation, and the Nez Perce Tribe formed the Commission. The Commission assists its member 

 tribes with their gravel-to-gravel fisheries management. 



Your hearing comes at a critical time in the history of the Basin's salmon runs. At least 

 nine lawsuits have been filed in the last two years challenging actions affecting the Basin's 

 salmon. At no time have the courts been faced with more complex issues regarding salmon 

 management. Unfortunately, the lawsuits are a symptom of the Basin's reluctance to come to 

 grips with basic resource management choices affecting the future of our salmon. 



The Committee has asked a series of detailed questions, to which I can only respond 

 broadly today. The Commission's written testimony will respond to each question in detail. 

 In general, existing institutions are not adequately responding to the biological needs of salmon. 

 Too much emphasis is placed on planning and political sensitivity. Too little emphasis is placed 

 on getting the job done, which puts the salmon and those that depend on the salmon at risk. 



The tribes' have borne the burden of conserving the salmon resources by closing their 

 fisheries. The tribes have not had commercial fisheries on spring chinook since 1977 and on 

 summer chinook since 1964. The tribal fishery closures have not been sufficient to stem the 

 decline of spring and summer chinook. On the other hand, since 1964 Lower Granite, Little 

 Goose, Lower Monumental, and John Day dams, to name only a few, were constructed, and 

 now impede salmon rebuilding. Yet, it is all too easy to solely blame the dams for the salmon's 

 decline. Poorly designed hatchery mitigation and bad land practices must be recognized for the 

 enormous impacts they brought about. 



You have asked, is the Power Council's Strategy for Salmon adequate? I answer, "no." 

 Only the week before last, the Yakima Nation asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to set 

 aside the Council's Strategy for Salmon for violating the Northwest Power Act. Among other 

 things, the Council wrongly rejected recommendations from the fishery managers for flows for 

 fall Chinook. Fundamentally, politics, not science drove the Council's decision process. This 

 is extremely frustrating for the tribes, because both science and the letter of the law should be 



