656 



The Commission especially appreciates your willingness to 

 consider creative approaches to Columbia Basin salmon recovery as 

 stated in your letter of October 1 to Administrator Randy Hardy. 

 As noted in our testimony, the Commission supports the elimination 

 of the BPA Fish and Wildlife Division and the transfer of its 

 responsibilities to a responsible fishery entity. Since the 

 adoption of the Regional Act and, particularly, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Program in 1982, the BPA Fish and Wildlife Division has 

 attempted to both prioritize and micromanage the elements of the 

 Fish and Wildlife Program at great cost to the ratepayers. These 

 costs stem not only from the duplicative functions provided by the 

 Division but also by the transaction costs incurred by the fish and 

 wildlife agencies and tribes when negotiating with the biologists 

 and other technical experts employed by BPA. 



This problem is best exemplified by the attached 

 correspondence between the Northwest Power Planning Council 

 Chairman and the BPA Administrator. These letters demonstrate not 

 only the continuing conflict between the Council and BPA over Fish 

 and Wildlife Program implementation, but they also ignore the 

 fundamental measure of accountability for the program with regard 

 to Pacific salmon in the basin: recovery and restoration of 

 naturally-spawning populations. How can the United States expect 

 the Canadians to respect and support our salmon rebuilding efforts 

 when those efforts primarily consist of interagency squabbling 

 about funding levels and authorities? 



On behalf of the Commission, I urge you to use the BPA Task 

 Force to resolve these problems consistent with the trust 

 responsibility of the United States to Indian tribes. As you are 

 aware from your participation on the Natural Resources Committee, 

 the Department of Interior is the lead department in carrying out 

 the trust responsiblity of the United States to tribes. While 

 other departments are charged with trusteeship concerning tribal 

 resources, many have not viewed these responsibilities as policy 

 matters. For this reason, I would recommend that you explore the 

 transfer of program implementation, on an interim basis, to the 

 United States Fish and Wildlife Service until and unless a 

 basinwide fish and wildlife entity is designated by the ^ish and 

 wildlife agencies and tribes. 



Thanks again for your leadership as chairman of the BPA Task 

 Force and please do not hesitate to call me or the Commission's 

 staff if we may be of any assistance. 



Sincerely, 



Ted Strong^ 

 Executive^irector 



cc: NW Congressional delegation 



