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Board of Directors of NSIA and the businesses that we represent is How is it that it 

 took a federal court case by the states and tribes to get the desperately needed 

 spill for fish survival and enhancement 



This spill program is the first ray of light and hope for an industry that, until recent 

 closures, generated a billions of dollars in income to this region The fish, and the 

 industries I represent are waiting for the promises made when the dams went in to be 

 kept 



In addition to the value to the region that healthy salmon populations represent, it is 

 important to remember the social and cultural values that sportfishing represents 

 Outdoor, fishing activities are family bonding events Think back, dig through 



your photo album I am certain that, for many of you, your earliest, fondest memories 

 were in the outdoors, fishing rod in hand 



Several weeks ago, I taught beginning fishing at a 3 day seminar titled "Becoming an 

 Outdoor Woman" The seminar was attended by nearly 100 women from Oregon, 

 Washington and Northern California On Saturday night, a great salmon barbecue 

 was prepared and served by volunteers from the Oregon Department of Fish and 

 Wildlife Before the salmon was served, a ceremony of thanks was given 



A "thank you to salmon for returning" was presented by a tribal representative, a child, 

 a sport angler, a commercial representative, and a fish processor After the thanks 

 were offered, there were very few dry eyes at dinner, and my eyes were flowing freely. 

 I know that we were all mourning the very real possibility of extinct salmon populations. 



The Northwest has been described as: "any place that a salmon could get to" Are 

 we now to redefine ourselves as "the place where salmon used to be'' " This is simply 

 not necessary We have the building blocks required for Salmon recovery In addition 

 to Judge Marsh, the Northwest needs other leaders to embrace and implement the 

 changes that will take the salmon and our industries into the future 



The Northwest Power Planning Council's Strategy for Salmon should be a starting 

 point, with modifications and recommendations from tribal and state agencies The 

 Northwest does not need another "spotted owl nightmare" Between the NPPC 

 Strategy for Salmon, the Detailed Fish Operations Plan and the NMFS recovery 

 recommendations, we can develop a recipe for recovery Let's stop the blame game, 

 and work together on the difficult solutions to which we all must contribute to be 

 successful in restoring our salmon to harvestable abundances. 



