34 



With the Service funding appropriated for the Chehalis and related purposes, 

 we have begun the monumental task of implementing this Restoration 

 Program and rebuilding Chehalis Basin salmon and steelhead trout runs. 

 Consistent with the Act, 20 percent of funding appropriated under authority 

 of the Chehalis Act has been transferred to the Confederated Tribes of the 

 Chehalis and the Quinault Indian Nation to support their participation in this 

 fishery resource restoration effort. Other cooperators have contributed funds 

 or in-kind assistance. For instance, the Chehalis River Basin Fisheries Task 

 Force is heavily involved in the Restoration Program thereby helping to 

 stretch Federal dollars with volunteers and other in-kind contributions. 



Any landowner, private citizen, or interest group may submit proposals for 

 Restoration Program funding. In Fiscal Year 1993, 18 habitat restoration and 

 public awareness projects are being conducted under cooperative agreements. 



Every effort is being made to implement the Restoration Program in a 

 manner that creates new jobs in this economically distressed region. Short- 

 term employment uses the skills of displaced timber workers to rehabilitate 

 degraded fisheries habitat. Long-term employment will be created as fish 

 runs and commercial harvests increase and the Basin becomes a major 

 destination for recreational fishing. 



Mr. Chairman, I believe the Service and its cooperators have developed a 

 careful, scientifically-based, and biologically-sound Fishery Resource 

 Restoration Program for the Chehalis Basin. We are ready to start down the 

 road to recovery of the once prominent fishery resources of the Chehalis 



