COMMITMENT 



t O 



Fish 



and 



W 



f e 



Saving the fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin is neither a recent, nor 

 merely a regional, concern. It has been a long-term commitment of the United States, 

 Canada and the sovereign Indian nations of the Pacific Northwest. 



Nearly 150 years ago, the U.S. government negotiated treaties with many of the 

 Northwest's tribes to secure for the United States millions of acres of tribal land. These 

 treaties guaranteed tribes the right to fish, hunt and harvest the foods that provided them 

 both physical and spiritual sustenance. These treaty rights have been consistently 

 reaffirmed in federal court challenges. 



Federal and Northwest state legislation has also specifically supported protection of 

 and rebuilding efforts for Columbia River salmon since the first decades of this century. 

 These laws called for limiting harvests of salmon, as well as creating hatcheries and 

 other efforts to increase salmon production, 



In 1980, Congress passed the Northwest Power Act, which included the directive to 

 our Council to "protect, mitigate and enhance" Columbia Basin fish and wildlife, 

 particularly the salmon, "which are of significant importance to the social and economic 

 well-being of the Pacific Northwest and the Nation." The Act specifically ordered 

 federal agencies that manage, operate or regulate both federal and non-federal dams in 

 the Columbia River Basin to provide "equitable treatment" for fish and wildlife with the 

 other purposes for which the dams are operated. 



In 1985, the United States and Canada signed a treaty committing these two nations 

 to reducing salmon fishing in the ocean and rebuilding salmon populations in both 

 countries. Salmon from the Columbia River Basin, which are critical to the viability of 

 both countries' fishing economies, received particular attention in that treaty. 



In 1991 and 1992, the National Marine Fisheries Service declared three Columbia 

 River Basin salmon runs to be threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered 

 Species Act. Kootenai River white sturgeon and bull trout have also been petitioned for 

 listing. The Endangered Species Act is one of the most rigorous pieces of federal legis- 

 lation ever enacted to protect natural resources. Our hope is that implementation of this 

 fish and wildlife program could make future listings of the Northwest's fish and 

 wildlife unnecessary. 



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