64 



STATEMENT OF 



JOHN LOWE, REGIONAL FORESTER 



PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION 



FOREST SERVICE 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Before the 

 Committee on Merchant Marines and Fisheries 



United States House of Representatives 



Concerning The Decline of Pacific Salmon Stocks 



August 10, 1993 



MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE: 

 Thank you for the opportunity to offer our views on the 

 conditions that have caused the decline of Pacific salmon 

 stocks. I am accompanied today by Dr. James Sedell, Research 

 Scientist from our Forest Science Laboratory in Corvallis, 

 Oregon, and Gordon Haugen, Columbia Basin/Pacf ish Coordinator, 

 who works as a special assistant to the Regional Foresters in 

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



The Forest Service has an important role to play in the 

 protection and recovery of Pacific salmonids. The National 

 Forest System contains approximately 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. 

 Habitat conditions on National Forest System lands are an 

 important element in conserving many of the Pacific anadromous 

 fish stocks. Forest Service efforts to manage this habitat 

 requires commitment within five western Regions, encompassing 



