Indian people 

 living along 

 the river were 

 dependent on 

 salmon for 

 their way of 

 life. 



Netting salmon on 

 the Columbid 



(Oroiilon HisloficilSodplvl 



It's been called the most ambitious effort to 

 rebuild a biological resource on the planet. 

 Thousands of people who live along the 

 Columbia are laboring to bring back one of 

 the river's most precious resources — the 

 Columbia River salmon. 



Salmon are a vital part of life in the Pacific 

 Northwest. This delectable fish has been 

 enjoyed by royalty and has been called "king". 

 The salmon has been revered and worshipped 

 by generations of the original Americans. 



And for generations, those who use the fish 

 and those who use the water vital to the Sal- 

 omon's existence for other purposes have been 

 locked in conflict. 



Water has been used to irrigate crops and 

 develop cities and industries. Using water to 

 produce power pulled the Pacific Northwest 

 out of the Depression and helped it to prosper. 



Not that fish were completely ignored. 



Since the first Federal hydro dam — Bonne- 

 ville — was built in 1937, those who used its 

 electricity — the Pacific Northwest electric 

 ratepayers — have been working to protect 

 fish. 



They invested half a billion dollars to build 

 fish ladders and a network of hatcheries to 

 replace lost habitat. Ratepayers have spent up 

 to $20 million a year just to operate and main- 

 tain these structures. More recently, power 

 managers have diverted springtime riverflows 

 away from turbines to help millions of fish 



MONTANA STATE LIBRARY 



3 0864 0015 7113 5 



migrate to the ocean — at a additional cost of 

 over $30 million a year. 



But it hasn't been enough. By 1973, when 

 the Columbia's last Federal dam was built, the 

 Columbia salmon catch was down nearly 80 

 percent from the harvests prior to the comple- 

 tion of Bonneville Dam. 



Growing concern forced Congress to act. In 

 1980, it placed increased attention on salmon 

 and other wildlife. With the passage of the 

 Northwest Power Act, it created a regional 

 body, the Northwest Power Planning Council 

 to pull together Pacific Northwest concerns for 

 fish and wildlife. 



The Council developed a fish and wildlife 

 program for the entire Columbia River Basin. 

 This program is a blueprint, an overall guide 

 for hundreds of individual projects carried out 

 by the region's state and Federal agencies, 

 including the Bonneville Power Administra- 

 tion. Bonneville and its ratepayers are respon- 

 sible for implementing over half of the 

 program. ^ 



Crews repairing fish habitat — barges carry- 

 ing young salmon and steelhead past the dams 

 — computer-sensitive fish tags — fish disease 

 research — support for harvest controls — 

 renovated fish ladders — better water flows in 

 the reservoirs for migrating fish. All are part of 

 the program. The goal? To repair the damage 

 to the fish runs caused by hydroelectric dams 

 on the Columbia River. 



Backgrounder 



