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STATEMENT OF JIM BAKER 



Mr, Baker. Mr. Chairman md Representative LaRocco, thank 

 you for the invitation to testify today on one of the critical environ- 

 mental crises of our time, the decline toward extinction of wild 

 salmon stocks in the Columbia River basin. For the record, my 

 name is Jim Baker, based in Pullman, Washington. I am the 

 Northwest Salmon Campaign Coordinator for the Sierra Club. 



You have my thick prepared statement and its accompanying re- 

 ports, and I will try to go to the highlights. 



As you do, the Sierra Club still believes the Pacific Northwest 

 can and should avert the public policy train wreck over salmon, 

 which we tragically experienced over the spotted owl. We remain 

 confident that this region can and should operate the Columbia 

 basin hydropower system for maximum and equitable production of 

 electricity and salmon. The living symbol of our Northwest culture, 

 these fish are simply too valuable — both environmentally and eco- 

 nomically — to lose forever. 



Regrettably, the Bonneville Power Administration, despite its 

 protestations here to the contrary, does not share this vision. In- 

 stead, their agency has seized decision-making powers on fish and 

 wildlife policy, undermining salmon recovery proceedings estab- 

 lished by Congress and thwarting the recovery effort itself This is 

 inappropriate for two reasons. 



First, under the Northwest Power Planning Act and the Endan- 

 gered Species Act, the Congress gave to the Northwest Power Plan- 

 ning Coimcil and the National Marine Fisheries Service respec- 

 tively — not to BPA — the responsibility to make determinations on 

 the biological effectiveness, the cost and the feasibility of salmon 

 recovery measures. 



Second, BPA has no credibility. Asking BPA how to save the 

 salmon is like inviting Japan or Germany to write U.S. trade pol- 

 icy. For this reason, I would respectfully urge you to reject Bonne- 

 ville's arguments here today about competitiveness and biological 

 uncertainty. But for the sake of brevity, I will focus on perhaps the 

 most disappointing and finistrating example — Bonneville's steadfast 

 opposition to the reservoir drawdowns of the four lower Snake 

 pools and the John Day project on the lower Columbia, which the 

 Northwest Power Planning Council incorporated into its Strategy 

 for Salmon. 



Now at the outset, I must address a couple of bugaboos inces- 

 santly raised by drawdown opponents here today and elsewhere. 

 First, the Sierra Club and salmon advocates have never promoted 

 these drawdowns as the only silver bullet, just the key measure for 

 a successful salmon recovery. 



Second, successful mitigation is entirely feasible for the various 

 impacts, particularly outages of navigation locks and irrigation 

 pumps. Mr. Chairman, if I believed even half of the Draconian evils 

 alleged about the drawdowns, I would join Mr. Lovelin and others 

 here in opposition to this crucial measure for salmon recovery. 



In reality, the proposed reservoir drawdowns promise several 

 compelling advantages: higher water velocities for migrating juve- 

 nile salmon; more rehability; larger summer flows; and greater cost 

 effectiveness. 



