restoration programs. The Council 

 will use tiie subbasin planning pro- 

 cess to identity coordination needs 

 and opportunities. Tiie subbasin 

 planning process should inxcntory 

 regulatory requirements, including 

 Endangered Species Act and Clean 

 Water Act measures, clarify water 

 and land management objecti\es 

 affecting fish and wildlife, and fit 

 program funding to other programs 

 for the maximum benefit. 



As the Council refines the prov- 

 ince-based project review and fund- 

 ing process, it will tV)cus the infor- 

 mation requirements of the process 

 to identify how project sponsors may 

 link their efforts to address program 

 objectives with the objectives or 

 requirements of other programs. 



The Ct)uncil will use the subbasin 

 planning process to review Endan- 

 gered Species Act and Clean Water 

 Act requirements in more detail and 

 obtain independent scientific review 

 of both the program measures and 

 the requirements of applicable bio- 

 logical opinions. The Council will 

 present the results of these reviews 

 and any revised recommendations to 

 the National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service to consider further revision 

 or reconciliation of biological opin- 

 ion requirements. Pursuant to the 

 rcqunements of the 1998 Energy and 

 Water Appropriations Act, the Coun- 

 cil will also report the results of these 

 reviews to Congress as pail of the 

 annual review of reimbursable proj- 

 ects. 



The National Marine Fisheries 

 Service intends to call on the federal 

 action agencies to annually develop 

 one- and five-year implementation 

 plans and associated budgets for 

 activities they intend to undertake 

 to meet the perR)rmance standards 

 and objectives for listed species. 

 The Council endorses this approach, 

 and once the requirement is further 

 defined, will seek to incorporate 

 these plans into the subbasin review 

 process. 



For non-operational measures 

 proposed by biological opinions for 

 Bonneville funding (such as research 



"The Council will pursue 



opportunities to integrate 



program strategies with 



other federal, state, 



tribal, Canadian, and 



volunteer fish and wildlife 



restoration programs. " 



or off-site habitat measures), the 

 Council will call on Bonneville, the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 and the Fish and Wildlife Ser\'ice to 

 first define proposed projects consis- 

 tently with the project proposal form 

 and process for Bonneville's direct- 

 funded program. The Council will 

 seek review of these proposals with 

 the other projects proposed in the 

 project review process. 



6. Project Management 



To facilitate multi-year funding 

 and contracting, the Council will 

 require projects to identify specific 

 tasks, objectives, deliverables, and 

 their associated costs. Bonneville 

 and the Council will establish pro- 

 tocols to ensure that projects stay 

 within their approved scope and 

 funding authorizations. 



Bonneville shall define terms 

 and conditions for project contracts 

 that support timely and complete 

 reporting by contractors of expen- 

 ditures and progress toward defined 

 project objectives. These require- 

 ments should ensure that project 

 sponsors report expenditures and 

 progress in enough detail to nK)nitor 

 performance of the specific tasks and 

 objectives identified in the original 

 project propo.sal from the Council. 



7. Annual Report to Gover- 

 nors and the Region 



Bonneville and the federal oper- 

 ating agencies will work coopera- 



tively w ith the Council to produce 

 an annual report which will provide 

 an accounting of its fish and wildlife 

 expenditures and hydropower opera- 

 tion costs. 



8. Funding Agreement for 

 Land and Water Acquisi- 

 tions 



Experience implementing this 

 program has shown great advantages 

 in being able to move quickly and 

 flexibly to acquire interests in land 

 and water rights for the purpose 

 of protecting or enhancing fish and 

 wildlife habitat. Often the oppor- 

 tunity for an important acquisition 

 exists only for a short period of time, 

 and often there is a substantial price 

 advantage in being able to quickly 

 close the transaction. The time and 

 uncertainty of the current project 

 selection process, and the procedural 

 constraints on real estate acquisition 

 by the federal agencies have made 

 these transactions relatively difficult 

 and more costly than necessary. 



The Council recommends that 

 Bonneville establish a funding agree- 

 ment for land and water acquisitions. 

 The Council will establish a mech- 

 anism, including an advisoiy entity, 

 that can act flexibly, quickly, and 

 responsibly in approxing t\inding tor 

 land and v\ater acquisition proposals. 

 The primary elements are: 



• A dedicated budget within Bonn- 

 eville's fish and wildlife fimding 

 establishing the amount of fund- 

 ing for land and water acquisi- 

 tions available per year, for a 

 multi-year period. The budget 

 would be known as the "Land and 

 Water Acquisition Fund" 



• An advisory board appointed 



by the Council after consultations 

 with reprcsentati\cs from Bonn- 

 e\ illc. fcileral aiui state fish 

 and wildlife and land manage- 

 ment agencies. Columbia Basin 

 Indian tribes, non-profu organiza- 

 tions specializing in habitat and 

 water acquisitions, and the Coun- 

 cil. The board would recommend 



48 



UMBIA RIVER BASIN FiSH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM 



