11 



tershed of the Wishkah Valley and also the point they make about 

 poaching. 



As it seems to be at this point now, the Department of Fisheries 

 cannot keep up with the poachers and the Washington Trollers As- 

 sociation wants to remind you that this is one of the most critical 

 times in the life cycle of the salmon, when they are trying to 

 spawn, and they are most vulnerable. 



Mr. Manton. Thank you, Ms. Ellison. 



[The statement of Ms. Ellison can be found at the end of the 

 hearing.] 



Mr. Manton. Our last panelist, Steve Moyer, Director of Govern- 

 ment Affairs, Trout Unlimited. 



STATEMENT OF STEVE MOYER, DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT 

 AFFAIRS, TROUT UNLIMITED 



Mr. Moyer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for having us here today 

 to testify on this very important issue. I am here representing our 

 70,000 members nationwide as well as our State council in Wash- 

 ington and the three chapters of Trout Unlimited that are active in 

 the Chehalis River Basin. 



Trout Unlimited is supportive of this legislation and is very 

 happy to see the outcome that we have before us. We commend the 

 Subcommittee for holding this hearing, the Committee for support- 

 ing the bill, Representative Unsoeld for being deeply involved and 

 concerned about this issue, and certainly the work that Represent- 

 ative Dicks has done in helping to get funding to make it a reality. 



We have reviewed the draft study and we support the study and 

 its conclusions and, importantly, I think we stand ready to imple- 

 ment the study and make sure these restoration efforts get under 

 way in a more vigorous fashion. 



Why do we support what has been done so far? I will go through 

 a couple of things we find to be very good about what has hap- 

 pened to date. As the other witnesses have mentioned, this process 

 that has been set up to involve many different parties, many differ- 

 ent interests in the region, and that is a critical part of any resto- 

 ration plan's success, I think. 



It is a good model watershed restoration plan. I can't testify, as 

 the other two witnesses have done, to a deep personal involvement 

 with the Chehalis River Basin. I can testify as a person who is a 

 resource advocate that struggles daily with what a watershed resto- 

 ration plan is and what ecosystem management is — I am sure the 

 Subcommittee members do as well — that I think this is a good ex- 

 ample of that. 



If you want to look around for an example of a watershed resto- 

 ration plan and what it really means, I would say take a look at 

 this study and its conclusions because it is an excellent example. It 

 gives strong emphasis to wild fish, it is appropriately cautious 

 about the role of hatcheries, it is scientifically based, and it places 

 a strong emphasis on habitat protection and restoration and on 

 water quality. The bottom line is that the plan is a good restora- 

 tion plan for Chehalis salmonids. 



