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According to several independent economic studies, the salmon 

 fishing industry (including both its commercial and recreational 

 components) contributed 1.25 Billion dollars in personal Income to the 

 Pacific Northwest's economy in 1988 alone, supporting an estimated 

 62,750 jobs. In prior years these income and jobs figures have been 

 greater. In spite of this recent good season, however, the overall 

 trend in the salmon industry has been downward. Today, only a few 

 short years later, the commerical salmon industry is in collapse, 

 with losses from the 1988 baseline year of over 85% in Oregon, and 

 nearly 100% in California. One of the primary causes of this downward 

 spiral has been land use practices that have destroyed forest-based 

 spawning and rearing grounds which these fish need to reproduce and 

 survive. Such short-sighted policies merely pit one economic sector 

 against another to the ultimate detriment of both. 



One of the primary tools available to prevent the collapse of the 

 salmon fishing industry has been state and federal endangered species 

 acts. We see an ESA listing as the final barrier between those 

 species and extinction. We thus cannot support efforts by the timber, 

 mining, grazing and other industries to "shoot the messenger" rather 

 than deal with the problems created by overharvesting of timber and 

 the destruction of riparian habitat on a massive scale throughout the 

 region. 



Protecting species from extinction means preserving the habitat 

 and ecosystem they depend upon. Preserving an intact forest ecosystem 

 also means preserving more timber jobs _in the long run rather than 

 sacrificing those jobs by overcutting for gains which are only at best 

 short-lived. Protecting these biological resources will also produce 

 more jobs in other forest-based industries, such as the salmon fishing 

 industry. 



Delisting the spotted owl and other endangered species should be 

 done by restoring their habitat , not by legislative fiat. We are thus 

 opposed to "sufficiency language" which merely short-circuits 

 environmental protections. The problem is the collapse of a 

 ecosystem, not the ESA — which after all is merely a reflection of 

 what we have done to these fragile biological systems. The ESA is the 

 MESSENGER, not the message. Shooting the messenger bearing bad news 

 is never a long-term solution to any problem. 



In particular, the recovery of the coho salmon will be impossible 

 without a strong ESA. As the Committee members are aware, there has 

 already been a request for listing of most coho salmon runs in Oregon, 

 and a coast-wide petition for the listing of coho sponsored by the 

 Pacific Rivers Council is also in the final drafting stages. Unless 

 dramatic land use changes are made and restoration monies made 

 immediately available, the coho salmon will be the next "spotted owl" 

 for this region within two years. The difference, however, is that 

 these salmon support an industry which creates jobs. An ESA listing 

 of coho salmon may thus be the only way to restore and preserve the 

 tens of thousands of regional jobs which depend upon salmon for their 

 existence. 



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