115 



goals of the Pacific Salmon Treaty as well as the use of the best 

 science available, the people of the Columbia Basin can have 

 salmon recovery along with economic recovery for our salmon 

 fishers, their suppliers, and our communities. 



The Snake River Salmon Recovery Team recently submitted its 

 final recommendations for a recovery plan for listed stocks of 

 Snake River salmon to the National Marine Fisheries Service. 

 Those recommendations will not lead to recovery. At the same 

 time, the recommendations call for eliminating tribal fisheries, 

 which have existed since time immemorial. The treaties signed by 

 the tribes in 1855 guaranteed more. Our view of the final 

 recommendations is aptly summarized in an excerpt from the 

 Commission's letter to NMFS on the Team's draft, "[ijt is with 

 both irony and anger that we note that the Team's draft recovery 

 plan continues the failed policies of the past - even more 

 draconian restrictions of treaty reserved fisheries with only 

 minor changes required of those activities which destroy the vast 

 majority of the remaining treaty resource." (Attachment 9 - 

 Letter to Douglas Hall) . 



Currently, the Commission and its member tribes are 

 completing a restoration plan for the Basin that provides a 

 basin-wide, watershed-based approach to salmon recovery. The 

 Commission recognizes the need for coordination among our 

 governments if the plan is to succeed and will utilize the 

 existing authorities in concert with the relevant state and 

 federal governments to accomplish plan objectives. Your 

 assistance in encouraging cooperation from the States of Oregon, 

 Washington, and Idaho particularly in the rejuvenation of 

 subbasin planning, consultation on fish production, and use of 

 the processes of the Columbia River Fish Management Plan can 

 further our joint efforts. 



