13 



I am accompanied today in the audience by Dr. James Sedell, Re- 

 search Scientist from our Forest Service Laboratory in Corvallis, 

 and Gordon Haugen, the Columbia Basin/Pacific Fish Coordinator 

 who works as a special assistant to all the regional foresters in Re- 

 gions 1, 4, 5, 6, and 10. 



One-half of the remaining freshwater salmonid spawning and 

 rearing habitat in the lower 48 States and about one-quarter of 

 such habitat in Alaska is on the National Forest System's five 

 western regions that cover California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, 

 and Alaska. I am going to specifically take my five minutes to ad- 

 dress the questions that were given to us. 



One was by what authority is each agency held accountable for 

 Pacific salmon recovery and how are activities of your agency af- 

 fecting the recovery of salmon? The Forest Service under the au- 

 thority of the National Forest Management Act and the Endan- 

 gered Species Act is responsible for the management of anadro- 

 mous fish habitat on 34 national forests in five western regions. 



The challenge for the Forest Service is to manage these habitats 

 with an ecosystem perspective for all uses, both commodity and 

 noncommodity, while ensuring the protection of the basic soil and 

 water vegetative resources that are critical for the sound steward- 

 ship of fish habitat and other resources. 



Historically, land use activities on both public and private lands 

 throughout the range of the Pacific salmon have affected water- 

 shed conditions and associated anadromous fish habitat. Scientific 

 understanding has changed through the years, thereby pointing 

 out the need for continuing evaluation of our programs. 



We are committed to continuing improvement of our manage- 

 ment consistent with new information and the best science. The 

 Forest Service has specifically taken several actions which when 

 fully implemented will help lead to the recovery of the Pacific 

 salmon. 



The Columbia River Basin anadromous fish habitat management 

 policy and implementation guide was signed in January of 1991 by 

 the three regional foresters in regions 1, 4, and 6. This policy clear- 

 ly articulates the Forest Service's intent to proactively manage 

 anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin. 



The Forest Service, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Man- 

 agement, is developing a Pacific salmon and steelhead habitat 

 management strategy, and the PACFISH strategy is a comprehen- 

 sive ecosystem approach to management of watersheds in the Pa- 

 cific anadromous fish habitats. PACFISH is being developed by 

 technical specialists and line managers from BLM, the National 

 Forest System and research scientists from our Forest Service Re- 

 search Organization. This program complements the fisheries por- 

 tion of the president's plan for managing the Federal lands in the 

 Northwest in the region of the spotted owl in Oregon, Washington, 

 and northern California. 



The second question is how is your agency coordinating restora- 

 tion efforts with other agencies? Is there an overall strategy of res- 

 toration? Is your agency working with other agencies and tribes to 

 implement coast-wide restoration efforts? 



The Forest Service has been a full partner with other Federal 

 and State agencies and tribal governments responsible for the man- 



