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problems and opportunities confronting them — and a great interest 

 in today's subject. 



I strongly support the initiatives in the U.S. Forest 

 Service and Bureau of Land Management for better salmonid 

 habitat, and for greater emphasis on watershed integrity. The 

 potential is great for positive change so that our public forests 

 and grasslands can do more to help prevent the demise of the wild 

 Pacific salmon resource--and help it on the road to recovery.. In 

 particular, I support the watershed approaches like those 

 embodied in the Pacific Rivers Council's proposal and in earlier 

 efforts to forge ecosystem-wide management systems like the so- 

 called "Gang of Four" report on late successional forest 

 ecosystems. 



As a scientist, I can speak to certain attributes of the . 

 watershed approach under consideration here today. It is based 

 on science, it is geographically comprehensive, and it 

 distinguishes between protecting present good habitat and 

 restoring abused habitat. It emphasizes that, first and 

 foremost, we should hang onto the good habitat that's left: our 

 healthy watersheds. And it provides the basis for, as a second 

 priority, restoring the various kinds of damaged habitat. I urge 

 you to put it into effect on federal lands in the Northwest. 



Why? Because our Pacific salmon are in bad trouble, because 



