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BY WHAT AUTHORITY IS EACH AGENCY HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR PACIFIC 

 SALMON RECOVERY? HOW ARE ACTIVITIES OF YOUR AGENCY AFFECTING 

 THE RECOVERY OF SALMON? 



The Forest Service (FS) , under the authority of the National 

 Forest Management Act (NFMA) for nonlisted stocks, and the 

 Endangered Species Act (ESA) for listed stocks, is responsible 

 for the management of anadromous fish habitat on 34 National 

 Forests (NF's) in five western Regions. The challenge for the 

 FS is to manage these habitats with an ecosystem perspective 

 for all uses, while ensuring the protection of the basic soil, 

 water and vegetation resources that are critical for the sound 

 stewardship of fish habitat and other resources. Historically, 

 land-use activities on both public and private lands throughout 

 the range of Pacific salmon, have affected watershed conditions 

 and associated anadromous fish habitat. Some of these 

 activities were executed with the best science available at 

 that time. An example, in the late 50 's and early 60' s, was 

 the removal of debris from streams- -a practice carried out by 

 both fisheries and land management agencies to ensure 

 un- impeded movement of anadromous fish within streams. At that 

 time, it was deemed both beneficial and proper. About 12 years 

 ago, we recognized that this management technique was 

 inappropriate and had contributed to the decline of Pacific 

 salmon stocks. We have, with other Federal and State agencies, 

 turned the corner on this management concern, by establishing 

 guidelines for large organic debris in anadromous fish habitat 

 on the NFS lands. This is just one example of how scientific 



