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Pursue and adopt a least cost plan for power and for fish 

 by incorporating fishery concerns into decisions as 

 diverse as the nature of unbundled services, power 

 operations, rates, marketing, and planning under the 

 Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement. 



* Limit its fish and wildlife bureaucracy, and operate 

 pursuant to the recommendations of the region's fishery 

 agencies and tribes within the Columbia Basin Fish and 

 Wildlife Authority. 



These steps, taken together before restructuring, can help 

 make equitable treatment a reality. American Rivers' additional 

 comments on restructuring BPA are provided in the following answers 

 to the questions posed by the Task Force. 



Q. In general, please discuss your views on the possibility of 

 changing Bonneville's status from that of a federal agency within 

 the Department of Energy to a government corporation. 



As noted above, American Rivers is not convinced that such a 

 change is desirable at this time. Before such changes are made, 

 we should first ensure a resolution of the current conflict over 

 fish and power and full integration of fisheries' needs into power 

 operations and marketing. 



Recent examples of BPA's reluctance to integrate fish into its 

 operations are not hard to come by: BPA's decision in the rate 

 case to reduce fish and wildlife expenditures; its longstanding 

 resistance to include meeting fish needs at minimum cost as an 

 objective of the Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement; its 

 failure to guarantee non-power use of non-treaty storage; and its 

 resistance to consider significant changes in its power sales 

 contracts to benefit fish. 



The BPA Competitiveness Project is itself a case in point. 

 Several months ago, BPA began the Project — a search for a 

 restructured BPA that was more efficient and businesslike. This 

 basic premise was disturbing to American Rivers and other fishery 

 interests. Although no one could disagree that BPA could and 

 should become more efficient, BPA has always operated more like a 

 business than a government agency. An even more business-oriented 

 BPA does not bode well for the fish, or for resolution of current 

 fishery conflicts. 



To add insult to injury, the Competitiveness Project discussed 

 BPA's fishery and other environmental responsibilities only as they 

 relate to economic policy, good business, and the benefits to the 

 environment from a financially stable BPA. Nowhere did BPA accord 



