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These discussions are now underway. Although progress has 

 been disappointingly slow, the Marsh discussions should result in 

 a new set of measures designed to avoid jeopardy to salmon 

 migrating through the hydrosystem. As Judge Marsh himself 

 explained, there is no bright-line where avoiding jeopardy ends, 

 and recovery begins. Consequently, the outcome of the 

 discussions in Tdaho v. NMFS will be a necessary component of the 

 NMFS recovery plan for the Columbia Basin. 



A Recovery Plan Must Be Impleme nted in Full. 



While it may seem obvious, a recovery plan for Columbia 

 Basin salmon must be implemented in full. If it is to work, a 

 recovery plan cannot be a cafeteria menu, from which we pick and 

 choose, implementing the easy ones and ignoring the "major 

 overhaul" called for by Judge Marsh. 



If history is any guide, however, there is grave cause for 

 concern about the potential for full implementation of flow 

 augmentation and reservoir drawdown measures — even though 

 these are both called for in general terms in the Strategy for 

 Salmon and the Recovery Team's recommendations. For example, the 

 original Water Budget developed by the Power Council in 1982 was 

 never fully implemented in the Snake River until after ESA 

 petitions were filed, just a few years ago. 



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