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2 

 Our basic mission has not changed since our Agency was created. 

 We are responsible for ensuring the protection of watershed 

 conditions while managing for multiple-use sustained yield 

 purposes. Our understanding of what is required to comply with 

 that mission, however, has evolved and changed with increased 

 awareness and understanding of ecosystem processes and 

 functions. (A short history is included in a Supplemental 

 Statement.) In June 1992, Forest Service Chief Robertson issued 

 an ecosystem management policy statement that initiated the 

 development of management programs that fully incorporate our 

 current understanding of ecosystems, and the impacts of proposed 

 activities. We now more fully appreciate that management of the 

 aquatic ecosystem must involve a consideration of the whole 

 watershed. It is what we do on the entire watershed that shapes 

 the characteristics of the stream courses and water bodies that 

 lie within its boundaries that provide fish habitat. Rivers of 

 the Pacific Northwest traverse a variety of land uses and 

 ownership. The headwaters of many river systems lie on the 

 National Forests while the remainder of the river is held 

 privately. The rivers and their water quality are impinged by 

 municipal waste treatment plants, shipping, dredging, mining, 

 diversions, hydroelectric impoundments and production, 

 agriculture use, and a variety of other uses. Fish habitat on 

 the National Forests is but one component of the equation. 



