15 



How can Fish and Wildlife Service fulfill its obligation under the 

 act to restore Chehalis River fisheries given this level of intercep- 

 tion; and is this why you have concluded it is going to take 20 

 years to restore the fisheries? 



Mr. Smith. The answer to your last question first, no. That is an 

 estimate on what it would take to improve the habitat, and do the 

 stocking program and evaluation. 



I don't question the figures you gave me. I think this is one river 

 system, one of many, that deals with the Canadian and the U.S. 

 treaty issue. The Fish and Wildlife Service had input into that de- 

 cision. We have debated the issue with the Canadians. We support 

 the State Department. That is about all I can say about that. 



I think we still need to negotiate with the Canadians. I don't 

 think we are at the point where we have resolved those issues and 

 I think this kind of thing, along with other kinds of restoration, 

 puts us in a better position to negotiate. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. Has the Service taken a position with respect to 

 the ongoing U.S.-Canada treaty negotiations? 



Mr. Smith. Our position is the same as the State Department. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. All right. You are probably aware that the agree- 

 ment for the 1993 fishing season provided only minimum reduc- 

 tions of coho interceptions and did not even address chinook inter- 

 ceptions. Did the Service have any say in the outcome of these ne- 

 gotiations? 



Mr. Smith. We were involved in the negotiations. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. What was your recommendation internally? 



Mr. Smith. Having pinned me down now I will turn to Mr. 

 Shake. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. I found the key? 



Mr. Smith. Not really. I was not involved in the negotiations. He 

 was. 



Mr. Shake. Well, one of my colleagues back in Portland was. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Unsoeld. I can't give you a spe- 

 cific answer in terms of what our position was. From the beginning 

 of the U.S.-Canada negotiations, our position has been let's try to 

 get a solid United States position, including the lower 48 and 

 Canada, and Alaska to negotiate from a very strong point with the 

 Canadians. Unfortunately, that did not occur. 



Following the breakdown of negotiations internally, we partici- 

 pated, as Mr. Smith said. Our position has been to, and recommen- 

 dation to the State Department, has been to try to minimize im- 

 pacts on lower 48 stocks, particularly those of concern that have 

 already been listed under the Endangered Species Act and those 

 which may be petitioned in the near future. So certainly our input 

 went into that process. 



Mrs. Unsoeld. One of my concerns is that money appropriated 

 for the act gets to the region for on-the-ground restoration work. 

 And, for the record, would you please provide a detailed accounting 

 on a year-to-year basis of the money appropriated to date? I am 

 specifically interested in where the money has been spent, what 

 percentage has gone into preparing the study on the restoration ef- 

 forts, and what percentage is being used for overhead and expenses 

 such as staff salaries or new staff hirings. 



