Columbia's major tributary, the Snake River. 

 These two dams blocked migratory fish from 

 more than 1,100 river miles of habitat. All along 

 the river, reservoirs flooded miles of what had 

 been salmon spawning and rearing grounds for 

 thousands of years. 



Agriculture also contributed to declining 

 fish runs as farm animals grazed on streamside 

 vegetation and irrigators impounded streams 

 and returned the water laden with sediment, 

 pesticides and herbicides. Careless logging 

 altered watershed runoff, removed shade trees 

 and scoured the gravel streambeds that salmon 

 and steelhead need to spawn. Dredge mining, 

 industrial waste and the toxic drainage from 

 cities and roads polluted the river environment 

 for fish. 



The Public Outcry 



The drastic decline in fish runs brought a 

 great deal of money and attention to the fish 

 problem through the years. Numerous groups 

 rose to fight for what they considered their fair 

 share of the dwindling resource. 



The cacophony of voices in conflict created 

 even more difficulties for the numerous agen- 

 cies involved in managing salmon and steel- 

 head. In the first place, it was sometimes hard 

 to determine just who had the right to manage 

 the fish. 



Often jurisdictional boundaries for state, 

 federal and tribal fish managers overlapped. 

 And through the years, additional regional and 

 international groups have been created to 

 manage the fish. 



Because of their differing values, competi- 

 tive harvest objectives and sometimes sover- 

 eign status, the fish management agencies and 

 Indian tribes were not guided by any single 

 vision or program. While individual groups 

 benefited, overall, the Columbia River's fish 

 suffered. 



Who, some observers wondered, would get 

 the last fish? 



The Act, the Council and the Program 



The fish situation was so dire that Congress, 

 in 1980, stepped in and added special language 

 to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Plan- 

 ning and Conservation Act (the Act). The Act 

 demanded mitigation, protection, and en- 

 hancement for fish and wildlife harmed by 

 federal hydro development on the Columbia. 



Not that dams are the only factor in declin- 

 ing fish runs, but they are the most obvious. 

 The inescapable logic that moved Congress to 

 actions was this: users of electricity, who 

 benefit from cheap power produced at the 



Columbia River Salmon 

 and Steelhead Runs^ 



Chinook 



Spring 



Summer 



Fall 



Coho 



Sockeye 



Steelhead 



' Source: Corps of Engineers 



- The year after Bonneville dam was built. The first full 



year of fish counting. 



federal dams, should help pay for the damage 

 those dams have inflicted on fish. 



The Act created a Northwest Power Planning 

 Council (the Council) whose first charge was to 

 come up with a comprehensive "Program"; a 

 list of measures to increase the numbers of fish 

 and wildlife. The Council, in turn, issued its 

 first Program in 1982. 



It is too early to assign specific results to the 

 Council's Program. But, fish biologists are 

 encouraged by salmon and steelhead runs in 

 1984, 1985 and 1986 that far exceeded those of 

 other recent years on the Columbia. Although 

 a number of factors have led to the improve- 

 ment, everyone agrees the efforts taken so far 

 to implement the Program are a step in the 

 right direction. 



The Players 



With such a varied collection of govern- 

 ments, agencies, tribes and others involved in 

 the Program, it is no surprise that their respec- 

 tive roles are still being refined and sorted out. 

 Each organization has its own strong ideas 

 about fishery priorities and how they should 

 be fulfilled. 



However, a common theme echoes clear: 

 Save the fish. The Act outlines roles for many 

 of the players and a structure for their 

 interaction. 



The Council 



Congress created the Council — composed 

 of representatives appointed by the governors 

 of Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon 

 — to set in motion a plan to "protect, mitigate, 

 and enhance" fish and wildlife on the Colum- 

 bia and its tributaries. A key provision in the 

 Act directed the Council to look at the 



July 1987 



