should be directed at re-estab- 

 lishing natural ri\ cr processes 

 where feasible and consistent 

 with the Council's responsibility 

 for maintaining an adequate, effi- 

 cient, economical, and reliable 

 power supply. 



' The efifect of ocean habitat 

 on salmonid species should be 

 considered in e\aluating freshwa- 

 ter habitat management to under- 

 stand ail stages of the salmon and 

 steelhead life cycle. 



' Systeniw ide water management, 

 includuig Mow augmentation 

 from storage reservoirs, should 

 balance the needs of anadromous 

 species with those of resident 

 fish species in upstream storage 

 reservoirs so that actions taken 

 to advance one species do not 

 unnecessarily come at the 

 expense of other species. 



There is an obligation to 

 provide fish and wildlife mitiga- 

 tion where habitat has been per- 

 manently lost due to hydroelec- 

 tric development. Artificial pro- 

 duction of fish may be used to 

 replace capacity, bolster pro- 

 ductivity, and alleviate harvest 

 pressure on weak, naturally 

 spawning resident and anadro- 

 mous fish populations. Resto- 

 ration of anadromous fish into 

 areas blocked by dams should be 

 actively pursued where feasible. 



Artificial production actions must 

 have an experimental, adaptive 

 management design. This design 

 will allow the region to evaluate 

 benefits, address scientific uncer- 

 tainties, and improve hatchery 

 survival while minimizing the 

 impact on, and if possible ben- 

 efiting, fish that spawn naturally. 



Harvest can provide significant 

 cultural and economic benefits 

 to the region, and the program 

 .should seek to increase harvest 

 opportunities consistent with 

 sound biological management 



practices. Harvest rates should 

 be based on population-specific 

 adult escapement objectives 

 designed to protect and recover 

 naturally spawning populations. 



• Achieving the vision requires 

 that habitat, artificial production, 

 harvest, and hydrosystem actions 

 are thoughtfully coordinated with 

 one another. There also must 

 be coordination among actions 

 taken at the subbasin, province, 

 and basin levels, including 

 actions not funded under this 

 program. Accordingly, creating 

 an appropriate structure for plan- 

 ning and coordination is a vital 

 part of this program. 



B. Scientific 



Foundation and 

 Principles 



The scientific foundation reflects 

 the best available scientific 

 knowledge. The scientific principles 

 summarize this knowledge at a broad 

 level. The actions taken at the basin, 

 province, and subbasin levels to fulfill 

 the vision should be consi.stent with, 

 and based upon, these principles. 



1. Purpose of the Scientific 

 Foundation 



In developing a program to fulfill 

 the vision statement above, the Coun- 

 cil is relying on the best available sci- 

 entific knowledge. While the vision 

 is a policy choice about what the 

 program should accomplish, the sci- 

 entific foundation describes our best 

 understanding of the biological real- 

 ities that will govern how this is 

 accomplished. The program can suc- 

 ceed only as it recognizes these reali- 

 ties and builds upon them. 



Thus, the scientific foundation is 

 the basis for the working hypotheses 

 that underlie this program. It also 

 provides specific guidance for pro- 

 gram measures. For example, the 

 strategies for the use of artificial pro- 

 duction are an application of the 

 scientific foundation to the use of 



hatcheries for raising fish within the 

 Columbia River Basin. 



The scientific foundation consists 

 of the scientific principles, a detailed 

 discussion of those principles, the 

 geographic structure of the program, 

 and a set of more specific scientific 

 rules and hypotheses. Only the sci- 

 entific principles and the geographic 

 structure appear in this volume of the 

 program; the remainder of the foun- 

 dation is in the Technical Appendix 

 for this program. 



The rules and hypotheses in the 

 Technical Appendix will change over 

 time in response to new scientific 

 information. These rtiles and hypoth- 

 eses will continue to be evaluated as 

 the program is implemented and will 

 be revised as needed. 



In contrast, the scientific princi- 

 ples below are intended to be rel- 

 atively fixed points of reference. 

 Although scientific knowledge will 

 improve over time, modification of 

 the principles should occur only 

 after due scientific deliberation. The 

 Council charges the Independent Sci- 

 entific Advisory Board with the pri- 

 maiy role in reviewing and recom- 

 mending modifications to the scien- 

 tific principles in the future prior to 

 any major revision of this program. 



2. Scientific Principles 



As part of the scientific founda- 

 tion, the program recognizes eight 

 principles of general application. It 

 is intended that all actions taken to 

 implement this program be consistent 

 with these principles. 



The scientific principles are 

 grounded in established scientific lit- 

 erature to provide a stable foundation 

 for the Council's program. A more 

 detailed discussion of the implica- 

 tions of these principles, together 

 with citations to the supporting refer- 

 ences, is included in the Technical 

 Appendix. 



14 



iMBiA RIVER Basin Fish and Wildlife program 



