83 



14 tribes are, themselves, independent sovereigns and they too 

 have a very substantial interest and obviously the Federal agencies 

 who own, operate and run those projects also have a substantial in- 

 terest. 



Any successful recovery effort, in my view, has to be part and 

 parcel of the larger fish and wildlife program in the basin. It has 

 to fit. The judgments that we make m executing our responsibil- 

 ities in turn have to fit. Is it a simple system? No, Senator, it is 

 not a simple system, but life in the Northwest is not simple and 

 there are a number of different governments that must and should 

 be involved in all aspects of it. It's a complexity but an appropriate 

 and necessary complexity in our Federal system. 



Senator Kempthorne. Just for clarification, is the National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service in charge of the recovery effort under the 

 Endangered Species Act? 



Mr. Stelle. Yes, Senator. 



Senator Kempthorne. Colonel, relative to the spill program, 

 what have your Corps biologists said with regard to whether the 

 spill program should be pursued? Did they concur with the NMFS 

 decision to pursue an aggressive spill program this year? 



Colonel BOHN. Mr. Chairman, our biologists were in consultation 

 with NMFS throughout the process of developing the biological as- 

 sessment and the biological opinion, so we know exactly every facet 

 of their studies and their data and we have shared any information 

 we have. 



We believe that the spill program is a valuable part of the overall 

 program. We believe it is an interim step that helps, in some cases, 

 if you carefully monitor the physical results of that spill program. 



Senator Kempthorne. That is a big if, isn't it, because wasivt the 

 monitoring of the 1994 spill put in after the fact? 



Colonel BOHN. Essentially, it was, sir. 



Senator Kempthorne. So it was purely an experiment? 



Colonel BoHN. I wouldn't characterize it as an experiment; I 

 think it was a very well thought-out, additional measure that could 

 be added to assist in the survival of the juvenile salmon. 



Senator Kempthorne. But Colonel, it's been stated that experi- 

 menting is very appropriate and very much a part of this and if 

 you're pursuing science, don't you need to have monitoring for an 

 evaluation of results to determine if you're getting the results you 

 want? 



Colonel BoHN. That's correct, Mr. Chairman, and we take our 

 role in the physical monitoring of this process in a very serious 

 way. So we have, again, concentrated on the physical monitoring, 

 identifying the actual gas levels in the rivers from over two dozen 

 monitoring stations. 



Senator Kempthorne. Colonel, what is your attitude about the 

 scientists that testified at the previous panel stating — and it was 

 divided, it certainly was not unanimous — those scientists who felt 

 that a spill was either not advantageous to the fish or, in fact, was 

 causing damage? 



Colonel Bohn. Mr. Chairman, again, we're going to rely upon the 

 very careful, professional justifications from the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service. We know that when you gather all the scientists 

 in the region that are interested in the fisheries issue and the 



