ENDANGERED SALMON RECOVERY PLANS 



THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1994 



House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Envi- 

 ronment AND Natural Resources, Committee on 

 Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 



Washington, DC. 

 The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:14 a.m., in room 

 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Gerry E. Studds pre- 

 siding. 



Present: Representatives Studds, Hochbrueckner, Pallone, 

 Unsoeld [Co-chair], Furse, and Cantwell [Co-chair]. 



Staff Present: Sue Waldron, Press Secretary; Frank Lockhart, 

 Professional Staff; Marvadell Zeeb, Subcommittee Clerk; Dan Ashe, 

 Staff Director; Margherita Woods, Minority Assistant; Sharon 

 McKenna, Minority Subcommittee Counsel; Cyndy Wilkinson, Mi- 

 nority Chief Counsel; and Tom Melius, Minority Professional Staff. 



STATEMENT OF HON. GERRY E. STUDDS, A U.S. REPRESENTA- 

 TIVE FROM MASSACHUSETTS, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMIT- 

 TEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



Mr. Studds. The salmon of the Columbia River are legendary. 

 When they arrived at the River early in the 19th Century, Lewis 

 and Clark remarked, "The multitudes of this fish are almost incon- 

 ceivable. ..at this season they fioat in such quantities down the 

 stream, and are drifted ashore, the Indians have only to collect, 

 split and dry them on scaffolds." Today, instead of salmon, the only 

 things that exist in inconceivable multitudes on the Columbia are 

 conflicting interests, competing jurisdictions, and failed recovery at- 

 tempts. 



However, the situation is not as bleak as it may appear for two 

 very important reasons. First, the people of the Northwest have let 

 it be known that they wish to recover salmon, and according to a 

 recent poll of the Washington State citizens, they are willing to pay 

 a reasonable amount to do it. Second, salmon are one of nature's 

 most resilient and persistent creatures. If any species can come 

 back from the brink of extinction, it is the salmon. Luckily, we can 

 depend on both of these factors in the development of a recovery 

 plan. 



Towards that end, the Snake River Recovery Team recently de- 

 livered to the National Marine Fisheries Service their final rec- 

 ommendations to recover endangered Snake River salmon. From 

 this point on, the fate of these salmon rests with the Service and 

 the Endangered Species Act recovery planning process. The testi- 



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