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Through the 1980s and early 1990s, I represented NMFS in its 

 efforts to obtain fish passage improvements — improved flows, 

 spills, and bypass systems — at individual dams in the Columbia 

 Basin, and in its efforts to prevent the initiation of a new 

 barging program in the mid-Columbia below Grand Coulee dam. I 

 have negotiated several settlements of fish and power conflicts 

 in the Columbia and other river systems. Where settlement has 

 not been possible, I have litigated the science, policy, and law 

 surrounding fish passage and restoration in the Columbia Basin. 



From this base of experience, I have developed a number of 

 views on what it will take to restore Columbia Basin salmon. 

 Today, more urgently than ever before, the answer is action . We 

 must finally stop arguing over the problems and start solving 

 them. We must accept the fact that protecting the salmon will 

 mean changes in river operations, and start figuring out creative 

 ways to make those changes. The longer we wait, the more painful 

 salmon recovery will be, as we postpone the ultimate day of 

 reckoning. 



The Committee has posed three questions about Columbia Basin 

 salmon recovery, all closely related. Rather than address them 

 one by one, I would like to respond by making five points that 

 together cover the answers. 



• First, a recovery plan for the salmon is long overdue. 



