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and coming from a State that depends on defense spending, we are 

 facing some very tough choices as we cut thousands of jobs. I am 

 interested in the kind of tough choices that you see ahead if we are 

 going to deal with this problem in a meaningful way. 



Mr. Schmitten, I notice that in your testimony you talk about 

 the recovery plan that you have been working on that is due out 

 relatively shortly. You talked about it being scientifically sound 

 and regionally supported. 



I also noticed from Mr. Hallock's testimony, for example one of 

 the four "H's", hydropower, he said hydropower is responsible for a 

 substantial amount of the loss of salmon. At the same time, our re- 

 gional demand for power has outgrown the dam's output. Today 

 about two-thirds of the electricity that is used in the Northwest de- 

 pends upon hydropower. 



Two basic questions. Number one, what are the tough choices 

 that we are going to have to face? We are going to have to face 

 some very tough choices when it comes to hydropower if it is the 

 primary source of the problem. 



And, number two, we are grappling on the Armed Services Com- 

 mittee with the issue of conversion, that is to say to take those 

 people and industries that are being hurt by something very desira- 

 ble, that is cuts in defense, and try to tap those resources and put 

 them to use in other directions. Is there a process in place right 

 now for looking toward the conversion of those resources that 

 might be hurt by any of the tough decisions that we might be 

 facing here in the Northwest? 



Mr. Schmitten. Mr. Andrews, some of the tough choices I think 

 we are going to have to face, when we look at a coast-wide restora- 

 tion; it is a two step process. The long-term will be habitat restora- 

 tion; and certainly we are talking in multitudes of life cycles of fish 

 (four years); and are expecting at least four cycles for recovery, so 

 16 years out. In the short-term, I think consequences will be hard- 

 est, and we will affect the harvesters more and more as we insti- 

 tute a coast- wide restoration. 



But I see an opportunity because of the conversion here to allow 

 both displaced timber harvesters, people that worked in the timber 

 industry as well as fishermen to work together to improve the 

 habitat, and I see a real opportunity. 



The other area for tough decisions comes in the Columbia and 

 Snake system, and that is what do you do about hydropower, espe- 

 cially with the issue of drawdown. If the science shows that draw- 

 down is a key issue for recovery, the Congress of the United States 

 would be asked to pay between two and four billion dollars for the 

 retrofitting of the four Snake River dams. That is an extremely sig- 

 nificant public issue of great consequences that this Nation will 

 have to grapple with. 



I think our agency must give you the science, whether that draw- 

 down is the logical approach to the restoration, and we are doing 

 that. Once we have those answers, we will come before the commit- 

 tee and provide you that information. 



Mr. Hallock. Mr. Chairman, we are losing power as we provide 

 more water for faster flows to sweep the smolts to the sea faster. 

 The Power Council is turning to conservation among all the utility 

 community the better use of what electricity we have got vanderag- 



