155 



~5 — 

 reflect the status of threatened, endangered and sensitive 

 salmonid species. The most glaring example of agency inaction in 

 this regard is the continuing failure of the Forest Service to 

 address its commitment to implement the Columbia Basin Program 

 Implementation Guide ("PIG") . The PIG was announced with much 

 fanfare in January, 1991, a time when petitions to list Pacific 

 salmon under the Endangered Species Act were emerging as a 

 significant regional and national issue. 



The PIG has management objectives that describe physical, 

 biological, and chemical characteristics necessary to protect and 

 restore salmonid habitats throughout the Columbia basin. But the 

 PIG has not been formally adopted as binding direction upon 

 Forest Service activities; it remains merely advisory. 

 Implementation of the Columbia Basin PIG, or a further refinement 

 of it, would address immediate deficiencies and buy time for the 

 implementation of a long-term comprehensive strategy. 



Fourth, the decentralized character of Forest Service and 

 BLM planning has resulted in a confusion of planning direction 

 and criteria that are inconsistent from Forest to Forest and/or 

 Resource Area and makes uniform planning direction difficult if 

 not impossible. The inconsistency extends to Forests that are 

 adjacent and even which manage fish habitat in the same drainage. 

 Although plans acknowledge the importance of coordinating forest 

 planning with other related federal, state and Tribal planning 



