572 



simply make that reckoning more difficult, more costly, and less 

 satisfactory. 



If this hearing bears any resemblance to previous forums on 

 salmon, you are likely to hear a chorus of buck passing from the 

 agency participants rather than a flood of creative ideas for 

 encouraging more sustainable use of the Columbia River. 

 Bonneville likes to blame the fishermen, farmers fault the 

 hydrosystem, and the Army Corps often blames the lethal ocean, 

 perhaps because it can't talk back. This carping indicates more 

 about the complainer than it does about the causes of salmon 

 declines.^ I trust that the Task Force will seek information on 

 the causes of salmon declines from independent sources before it 

 draws conclusions. No credible source denies that the system of 

 large federal dams is the largest source of human-caused salmon 

 mortality in the Columbia system. 



The Power Act made a striking revision in the mandates of the 

 federal operating agencies by requiring equitable treatment of 

 fish and wildlife with other project purposes. The Act still 

 provides an excellent guide for salmon recovery planning, and has 

 laid a foundation for the future. But the federal agencies have 

 fallen far short of achieving the Act's goals, and a new paper 

 mandate has proven no match for the contracts, pricing systems, 

 informal agreements, and above all the power marketing engine 

 that drives decision-making in the region. The buck-passing 

 syndrome underscores the need for the spirit of Harry "The Buck 

 Stops Here" Truman in the federal agencies involved in the 

 Columbia Basin. NRDC thinks legislation may be needed to instill 

 that spirit and ensure full implementation of the Power Act. 



The remainder of my testimony describes these issues in more 

 detail and answers the questions the Task Force posed to NRDC. 



1. Is the NPPC's strategy for Salmon an appropriate and 

 sufficient framework for salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia 

 Basin? What are its strengths and weaknesses? 



The Salmon Strategy, while hardly a flawless attempt to comply 

 with the mandates of the Power Act, contains many ingredients 

 essential to a salmon recovery plan. Its major strengths are a 



^ A U.S. District Court case recently found that hydropower 

 customer groups lacked standing to attack decisions regarding 

 harvest, in words that have some application here: "to permit 

 these plaintiffs (aluminum companies and utility groups) to 

 proceed with their claims under the ESA would be akin to 

 permitting a fox to complain that the chickens had not been fed 

 - sure, he has an interest in seeing that the chickens are well 

 fed, but it's just not the same interest the farmer has, nor is 

 it an interest shared by the chickens." 



