14 



In the Columbia River Basin, 16 million salmon used to team the 

 streams; now we are down to about 200,000 wild salmon. 



Our rivers are certainly in trouble. The pressure on riparian and 

 ecosystems is tremendous from point source pollution, dams, agri- 

 culture development, timber, mining, urban runoff, and mineral ac- 

 tivity. In its landmark piece, the Restoration of Aquatic 

 Ecosystems, the National Research Council stated, and I am 

 quoting here, "aquatic ecosystems worldwide are being severely al- 

 tered or destroyed at a rate far greater than at any other time in 

 human history and far faster than they are being restored." 



The findings of the EPA's biannual 305(b) report where they re- 

 port on the national water qualities released this spring were not 

 rosy. Over the 20 years the Clean Water Act has been intact, 44 

 percent of our Nation's rivers and streams still do not meet State 

 water quality standards. And while that is a disturbing statistic, 

 it certainly is not surprising. The Clean Water Act has improved 

 the chemical water quality quite a bit, but has done little to ad- 

 dress pervasive threats to the biological and physical structure of 

 our streams. 



In response to this dire picture of our Nation's aquatic health, 

 the National Research Council in that same report I referred to a 

 moment ago, stated strongly that, I am quoting again, "There is a 

 need for comprehensive, integrated programs that support stream 

 and river restoration at all levels inherent in the drainage hier- 

 archy." 



It went on to recommend that a national aquatic ecosystem res- 

 toration strategy be developed for the United States. They gave a 

 cautionary note. They said, "although restoration ecology applied to 

 aquatic ecosystems is in a very early stage of development, the 

 prospect for substantive improvements in damaged aquatic 

 ecosystems is excellent." And that gives American Rivers a lot of 

 hope for the future; that regardless of what we have done to these 

 streams we are finding that rivers are extremely resilient and if we 

 act now and we act comprehensively, there is a chance for full re- 

 covery, we believe. 



H.R. 4481 took up the mantle that was laid down by the Na- 

 tional Research Council's report by establishing a high level Fed- 

 eral task force to develop just such a strategy. Importantly, the 

 task force will include not only the appropriate Federal agencies 

 but also State agencies, Native Americans, academic institutions, 

 and nonprofit organizations. And while such a diverse group for 

 such a task force may at first appear unwieldy, we believe that it 

 is important to have everybody at the table. 



Currently, a variety of Federal, State, and local agencies manage 

 the Nation's aquatic ecosystems, often with different, if not diver- 

 gent, objectives, and in the case of rivers, this is particularly dam- 

 aging because they are by definition integrated ecosystems, which 

 know no jurisdictional boundaries. 



While the development of a national strategy is certainly the first 

 step, it is really meaningless unless there is some vehicle with 

 which to implement it and H.R. 4481 does indeed provide a vehicle 

 and a funding mechanism with which to implement it. 



I see my time is running low, so I will ask the balance of my 

 statement be put in the record. 



