140 





thousands of adult salmon and steelhead -- they will be experiments in rebuilding 

 natural production, not just in producing numbers of fish. 



• Integrated System Plan: On June 1, 1991, the fisheries agencies and Indian tribes of 

 the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority submitted the Integrated 

 System Plan for Salmon and Steelhead Production in the Columbia River Basin to 

 the Council. The building blocks for the Integrated System Plan are the 31 subbasin 

 plans prepared for each of the major subbasins or watersheds of the Columbia River 

 Basin that produce salmon and steelhead. These plans, along with other resource 

 management plans and ideas, are the starting point for identifying actions to help 

 specific salmon populations. Plans developed under the program, and otherwise, 

 will be used to address other fish and wildlife species to provide a coordinated 

 response to the need to rebuild weak stocks throughout the region, not just those 

 petitioned for protection under the Endangered Species Act. 



• Resident fish: Measures also have been implemented that have benefited resident 

 fish ~ those that do not swim to the ocean ~ impacted by hydropower development. 

 These include stocking of fish, streambank enhancement, reduction of reservoir 

 drawdown and fluctuation (to the extent that it is harmful to resident fish) and 

 release of water from storage dams to improve instream habitat for resident fish 

 rearing and spawning. In addition, the Cabinet Gorge kokanee hatchery was 

 constructed and is operated for the rebuilding of this species in Pend Oreille Lake. 



Other resident fish projects have been initiated to mitigate for salmon and steelhead 

 losses in areas that are blocked by dams ~ resident fish substitutions. A rainbow 

 trout hatchery on the Colville Reservation was dedicated in September 1989 for this 

 purpose. In addition, a new kokanee hatchery has been completed to stock Lake 

 Roosevelt behind Grand Coulee Dam. 



Beyond that, the Council is working to ensure that salmon recovery actions do not 

 undermine resident fish populations. 



• Wildlife: In October 1989, the Council amended its wildlife mitigation rule into the 

 fish and wildlife program. Projects are under way in all four states, but concerns are 

 continually raised about the pace of implementation. 



Implementation of the Strategy for Salmon 



This gives you an idea of the types of measures we have included in our fish and 

 wildlife program to aid salmon recovery. Now I'd like to turn to implementation of 



