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One attractive development, to measure the progress of 

 recovery, is new technological tools for tagging and recovery to 

 measure changes in survival. 



Most important, in our view, is to expeditiously get on with the 

 job. We must not delay because agencies, institutions, or individuals, 

 without clear scientific direction, argue over what needs to be done. 



We must begin recovery and at the same time develop better 

 science. This is not the time to wait for research to prove a particular 

 recovery tool is valid. Neither is it a time, as some propose, to 

 proceed recklessly with measures whose benefits and risks are 

 either not understood or carefully balanced. We must monitor and 

 evaluate as we go forward and be prepared scientifically, politically 

 and emotionally to change direction or abandon a recovery method if 

 science shows it to be ineffective. This concept is called adaptive 

 management. 



These recommendations do not maintain the status quo. They 

 will have considerable social and economic impacts on the region and 

 in return we will secure the benefits of recovery. The costs will be 

 estimated by a NMFS economic team and will be available in NMFS's 

 draft recovery plan. 



The Recovery Team's mandate is to satisfy the Endangered 

 Species Act, but in our view such a limited recovery to achieve ESA 

 delisting is necessary but not sufficient. If we are not successful in 

 restoring the Snake River Salmon beyond the numbers necessary to 

 satisfy the Endangered Species Act we will have abrogated our treaty 

 responsibilities to the Tribes, and failed to provide the economic 

 benefits to the region that derive from healthy stocks that permit 

 spon and commercial fishing. 



There are twelve chapters in our document. Most of the 

 chapters are based upon science and that science should speak for 

 itself. 



In the time available today I can not review the scientific 

 information that is the basis for the recommendations in our over 

 500 page report. I do want to emphasize the Team's 

 recommendations that concern political science and specifically our 

 recommendations for institutional change. 



Institutional changes recommended in Chapter III reflect the 

 Team's opinion that the current public policy decision-making 

 process is seriously flawed for all aspects of Columbia Basin 

 anadromous fishery management and research. Large amounts of 

 resources have been invested to protect and rebuild Columbia River 

 Basin salmonids. These efforts have not succeeded and the reasons 

 are not hard to find. 



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