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But it is only a study and the beginning of a restoration effort. 

 The true test of this plan and its effectiveness will be in actually 

 restoring salmonid populations. That is the next step. 



Therefore, the first thing that I would urge this Subcommittee to 

 consider is a way to make sure that the restoration conclusions in 

 the study get implemented. As the Fish and Wildlife Service has 

 said, this will require considerable money, but I don't think it is 

 big money in comparison to some of the other restoration projects 

 that this Subcommittee will look at. Either through authorizing 

 legislation or through getting a commitment from the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service and the other parties involved, the restoration 

 plan should go forward as soon as possible and with the funding 

 that the Fish and Wildlife Service recommends that it gets. 



Some other points from a Trout Unlimited "macro" perspective: 

 One is that we believe the Fish and Wildlife Service has the ability 

 to, and should do more of, these restoration projects and plans 

 throughout the West Coast. There are many other river basins on 

 the West Coast that need this kind of attention and study, and we 

 urge the Subcommittee and this Committee to look at this example 

 as a model that could be used elsewhere. 



We have similar examples in California with the Klamath River 

 and Trinity Rivers. So we have a handful of these projects under 

 way but we need more and we need them soon. 



Further, we would like to see the Fish and Wildlife Service be in 

 charge of coordinating Federal salmon recovery efforts throughout 

 the West Coast. We think it is important that the efforts of all the 

 Federal agencies involved, and as you know, there are many in- 

 volved on the West Coast with salmonid recovery, would be better 

 coordinated through the Fish and Wildlife Service and through the 

 Department of the Interior: Somebody who can keep track of all 

 the funding needed to do restoration efforts, somebody who can 

 keep track and provide quality control of all the hatcheries that 

 are putting fish into the system, somebody who can keep count of 

 the wild fish and fish populations in each basin. 



These are coordinating steps which I think would be well carried 

 out by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Interi- 

 or. 



One criticism that we would have of the Chehalis plan and the 

 study, as I have read it, is that it does not call attention enough to 

 the problems with the U.S.-Canada salmon treaty. We were very 

 disappointed at the recent agreement that was signed by the 

 United States and Canada. This agreement is very critical to 

 making sure that fish actually get back to the Chehalis River 

 Basin. 



Watershed restoration is essential and is critical but if there are 

 not adequate fish returning to the basin, the plan won't work. And 

 this U.S.-Canada treaty is a problem because it does not do a good 

 enough job of conserving fish and making sure fish get back to the 

 Chehalis Basin. 



Finally, I would mention the role of the Clean Water Act. This 

 Committee will look at the Clean Water Act reauthorization. As 

 you read through this study, you will see water quality references 

 throughout, and it is very clear to me that a strengthened Clean 



